I do believe in...

Fairies????? Okay, maybe they aren't real, but that isn't really the point is it?


              It's about time I share with you the best book I've read, movie I've seen, and idea I've heard. EVER. The book? Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. The movie? Peter Pan, Well honestly I like the one with Jeremy Sumpter and Jason Isaacs the best. The idea? That it is possible to never grow up.

 

poster for the play I saw

I wasn't really  fan of Peter Pan (ha, that rhymed) until I saw the movie "Finding Neverland" which is the story of how Barrie came to write Peter Pan. I read the book because of the movie and loved it. Then I saw the movie Peter Pan (2003) and was hooked. (Oh man, I promise I'm not doing it on purpose). I've even seen it as a play, the way it was originally written. I've wondered why it didn't attract me when I was younger, and I figure it's because little kids don't care as much about growing up, and they don't think about it. So when a "grown up" or someone in the process, like me, hears a story of someone who never grew up, it fascinates them. Nowadays I feel like I'm growing up too fast, that life is coming at me and I have to be "responsible." However, Peter Pan isn't just about never growing up, to me it's about keeping the inner kid in you forever. At least, I think that's what Barrie meant it to be. Sure that sounds a little cliché, but when you think about it, how cool is that? Being a responsible adult, but still having fun like a kid. That means when you go "out" with your grown up friends, all responsible with the paying and the driving, you can still catch fireflies when you come home and admire them. It means taking notice of the little things in life and enjoying them, like a ladybug crawling on your window while you're paying the bills or when your friend accidentally makes a funny face (because now that we are all grown up, we aren't supposed to make silly faces on purpose). So when I say there aren't really fairies, that's the grown up in me talking, but that doesn't mean you can't pretend they exist. Peter's life was one big pretend, it's part of being a kid. There is something sad about Peter Pan, and the "narrator" mentions it in the book. It's the fact that Peter never grows up, so he will never experience all that comes with it, like family. Oh he has the lost boys, and they're grand, but even they grow up and leave Neverland. Peter has the bliss of forgetting those he loses, but when we look at it, it's quite tragic, no father or future sons. So take heart! It's not all bad growing up, it's just part of the fun. Just don't forget you can still  have fun while it's happening. J. M. Barrie and Wendy Darling did. Now I'm a huge fan. I've read the book several times, have the movie practically memorized, and thanks to my good friend Taylor, have an awesome "lost boys" shirt. When I think of England, I think of the Darlings, when I go to cubbies, of course the Lost Boys come to mind,  when walk in the walk the woods, I think of Neverland. So go ahead, enjoy whatever stage of life you're in, they all have their moments, but don't be like a fairy and only have room for one moment/feeling at a time.