I also have the need to watch anime, but dinner is coming soon, and I dislike having to stop an episode in the middle. So my writing urge won out.
Alright. So the topic of the day, hour, minute is... Fantasy or Reality? Which one would you choose?
Let me guess. Fantasy, right? It's the world full of endless possibilities, exciting adventures, heroes and heroines, monsters and dragons, magic, advanced technology, and is just a world full of our dreams and hopes.
I know I used to wish I belonged in a fantasy world. I want to be able to transform into a wolf, ride a unicorn, cast magic spells, fly, fight evil doers, and be the hero of my story. But now, something has changed. I noticed this after I read the story "Shiver". A friend lent it to me since she knew I loved wolves and figured I would enjoy it. The story in itself wasn't too bad. However, I noticed that once I got halfway through I wanted to stop reading. Yet, I couldn't because I have this syndrome of "Once you start something, you need to finish it." I was curious as to how the story ended, but there were definitely parts of the book I didn't enjoy.
I think it was the whole love story in the book. The two act intoxicated with one another, even though they barely know each other. And I'm not going to lie, I thought it was crap. I thought to myself, "The way they act towards one another... it's so... unreal. I get it, they're in love. Reason does go out the window a bit, but these two... it's kind of ridiculous." It was "love at first sight", but I don't know. I just didn't like it. It sort of reminded me of the Twilight romance between Edward and Bella. Yet, I won't lie, when I read those books, I didn't get the dislike feeling like I got from "Shiver". It could be because I read Twilight when I was a different person and in a different stage of my life. Even then, the love in Twilight makes a BIT more sense in my head than this romance in "Shiver". But I'm going to stop bashing the book now. The author is a decent author and she describes things beautiful. She had written beautiful lyrics and the poetry was wonderful.
But this made me wonder, did my view on fantasy and reality change? Did I now choose this reality I was living in than the fantasy world I always dreamed about as a kid? I mean, after I read "Shiver", I was dying for something nonfictional, or something based more in the world I lived in today. And I kept thinking, "Well, at least I can relate to it and maybe take some of the knowledge and use it." When did I start becoming so practical?
I'm not sure when all of this happened, and I still love to day dream, but I think I've finally begun to enjoy reality and see the beauty in it. I mean, living is hard, quite hard. And so when small moments happen, like a butterfly crossing your path, a flower catching your breath, that rainbow in the sky after the rain, all of it... is so beautiful. I don't need to sprout wings or become a wolf to enjoy life. Sure, I think it would make life more interesting... and maybe more fun (maybe), but the thing is, I've really begun to enjoy and appreciate this reality of life I have now.
Most of the time, we think the grass is greener on the other side. Surely an adventurous life is way more fun and enjoyable than a mundane life, and vice versa. We human beings always like to "reach for the moon". No matter what we have, we're always reaching for something that is out of reach, believing that it is the only thing in the world that can make us happy.
But perhaps, I've finally stopped reaching and really see how green the grass is on MY side.
I think most of it is because of God. There are many moments where He takes my breath away and I just can't help but to feel His love and let it out pour from my heart. It puts a warm smile on my face and I just think, "No matter what my world is like, I'm just glad I have this... this feeling in my heart."
So maybe it's not that I've given up on my fantastical dreams. I've just received a love and joy that transcends both fantasy and reality.
