The Chronicles of My Obsesion

Eight years ago yesterday our lives changed forever.
Eight years ago yesterday, a door was opened-- a wardrobe door, if you will.
Eight years ago yesterday, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe premiered in theaters!

     If you don't already know, I am what you would call "obsessed"with Narnia.  Now, many of you reading this are obsessed with Harry Potter, Sherlock, etc., so let he who is without sin cast the first stone.  Perhaps I should give you a glimpse into how deep my love of Narnia truly is.
     I saw LWW in theaters, and then we read the book in my fourth grade class.  When it came time for us to choose our own book to read for the next assignment, my cousin Thomasina let me borrow her Prince Caspian book, the next book in the series.  I was hooked.  I've since been married to High King Peter Pevensie, live in Narnia's Golden age, and have read six of the seven books (I don't want to read the last one...).  As far as the movies, I have the normal and  special edition of LWW, Prince Capsian, and the special edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I have the box set of the Chronicles, the books on CD, and pretty sure I had the gameboy game. I have the binder-insert-of-facts, and The Pocket Companion to Narnia, a bookmark, Prince Caspian valentines, an Aslan devotional, two books that look into the religious meanings of the Chronicles, an unopened card game, the board game, the Narnia Chronology book, a homemade "I <3 [insert head shot of William Moseley here]" poster, and a a Peter calendar my cousin gave me for my birthday one year (he's only missing from a couple of the months-- that was such a great year).  For eighth grade graduation rehearsal, when they gave each student an award, I was "Most Likely to Find Herself Lost in the Land of Narnia".  Yeahhhhh I'm cool ;p .


     Now, for the insight.
     The Chronicles of Narnia has certainly changed my life.  It an epic story of growth that teaches even the weakest among you can be heroes, trust in Aslan for His Will will be done, and never loose your child-like outlook.  The Chronicles are a great religious tool, for they are laced with Biblical references that help us better understand the stories of the Bible.  I get so much out of the Chronicles, and they are stories that grow up with you.  Lewis adds charm to his writing by adding little things, such as "She had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself into a wardrobe," after Lucy ventures into the wardrobe.  Lewis created a realm that is so fantastical it makes everyone check their closet for a way to get to this amazing land.  What's more, Lewis made sure that Narnia was just a country in this new world (that's not round), and it is the exploration f the new world in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader that attributes to it being one of if not my favourite book of the Chronicles.
     I'd like to take this opportunity tho proudly proclaim that I am pro-published order of reading the Chronicles.  This means I count: 2, 4, 5, 6, 3, 1, and 7.  There is much debate on the subject, for the Published (and even written, I think) order go out of chronological order.  The video series explains why pro-published order is correct in such detail (I attatched the short version), and I encourage you to watch it!  When I discovered there was a guy out there who loved Narnia enough to stat a website and a YouTube channel I was so shocked and happy.  The world needs more people like him.

     Thank you for sticking with me on this journey through my Narnia-obsession, I really appreciate it.

"My Dear Lucy,

 I wrote this story for you, ... some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.  You can then take [this book] down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it.  I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be
 your affectionate Godfather,
C.S. Lewis"

Day Dreaming Is A Necessity

     Oh shoot it's a blog week.  I'm in-between applying to Fairleigh Dickinson and going to math tutoring and going to the Homecoming Dance, so I'll make this brief.
     When we watched The Importance of Being Earnest, Reese Witherspoon's caracter was frequntly shown daydreaming.  We all laughed and thought it was so weird and funny, but I totally identified with her.
     Story is an escape from reality.  We all need imagination if we've any hope of an awesome life.  Day dreaming is fun because you're more in-control and you can remember your dreams more easily than if you were night-dreaming.  Sometimes, when we are amid a hectic day or honestly cannot take another sad story on the news, we need to esxape to the realm of our favourite stories or stories we've created ourselves.  The downside to day dreaming, however, is when you do it so often you simply cannot concentrate-- even if it's during calculus class and we all know that you NEED to concentrate in that class!
     This may come as a shock to some of you, but I think I spend more time in the realms of story than I do in reality.  I used to strictly day dream of Narnia, journeying through the plot-line of my own Narnian adventures of a dryad-turned-human by Aslan to fullfil a propheesy (I still don't know what that is but I'm sure I will figure it out one day...) who ends up marrying High King Peter and ruling with the Pevensies in Narnia's Golden Age and I'm a fantastic archer and sword fighter with long chesnut hair and a high pain tolerance who can run and ride with the best of them and talks with an English accent and is a devout follower of Aslan and--- you get the idea (I've been thinking this up since, like fourh grade soit's pretty extensive lol).  As I've gotten older and have been exposed to more stories, I find my daydreams broadening as well.  I put my self in Camelot as I am Prince Arthur's love (Bradley James everybody-- am I right?!) or in my new favourite show Reign as Bash's love (Torrance Coombs everybody-- am I right?!).  Hmm... I'm detecting a theme...  yup, these are the day dreams of a love-sick and despearate-for-a-fantasy-book-like-romance teenage girl.  And I'm putting this on teh internet.  Oh boy.
     Regardless of your day dreams and their themes,  you do day dream, don't you?  I hope you do, for day dreams can be quite fun.  I find them thereapeutic-- envisioning an argument in your head can help you cpe with your anger.  All-in-all, I hope you see stories as a healthy way to escape the day-to-day drudgery we all can experience and go on fantastical adventures.

Making the Grounded Fly

     I think, considering I'm in bed and it's 10:23 on a Tuesday night, that it's a fine and dandy time for me to do my blog post.  I'll keep it short and sweet; an inspiring experience I'll describe for you.
     My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Miller, was also my sixth grade teacher.  She and I are still friends to this day.  In fourth grade, she introduced me to the book "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", which has changed my life (whose life hasn't it changed?!).  She had this little cardboard castle, and if you were lucky enough, you could read in it during free reading time.  I miss free reading time; that's something we need more of (if the book I ordered in AUGUST would just GET HERE!!).   Alas, I grew up and onto the main memory we go.
     We had free reading time in sixth grade as well, and once someone got the idea that we journey just outside of the classroom-- the front of the school with a couple trees and tons of grass and fresh air-- and have our reading time out there.  JERNYUS!   Mrs. Miller made it happen (got it approved), and our class traveled to the outside world with our books.  This was one castle we could all read in.
     It occurred to me that students sat back-to-back, touching and connecting with each other in the physical world, but their minds and imaginations were elsewhere.  We could be touching, yet worlds apart.  Hypothetically, someone was stuck in medieval times, someone else on the basketball court, and they needed the other for SUPPORT, yet they were in realms unrelated to each other.
    It's amazing what stories can do, where they can take you.  We can be waiting for the speed line beneath the city yet high upon the balcony of a medieval castle.  We could be as single as ever yet engrossed in a dangerous and passionate love triangle.  We can be holding hands, touching backs, etc. with someone yet be on completely different planets or in completely different time periods.
    Stories have an amazing way of making the grounded fly.

È finito <3

• For: Milslice

If A Tree Falls In The Forest, Will Anyone Write About It?

     I have always said that I like to LOOK at nature, I like to think I like nature, but I don't like nature.  There are way too many bugs and webs and too much dirt.  Seriously, nothing ruins an inspirational gaze upon the fall foliage like a stink bug right night to your purse.  Oh, nature.
     So it is only logical that I surprise my self with how quickly I can forget all of the bugs and such and enjoy the scenery.  When I went exploring in the woods with my freshman on Friday, a couple times I stopped and loudly proclaimed how beautiful the sight was, before freaking out about poison ivy possibilities and what not.  We painted my room not too long ago, and gone are the floor-to-ceiling pink walls: my room is a nice yellowy-green with light brown tree wall stickers interspersed with a pink deer, a pink owl, and pink birds.  I love staring at my mock-forest.  It transports me to an enchanted forest of my imagination.
     Lots of movies and TV shows have beautiful backdrops, be it cartoon princess movies such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, or Arrow and Reign.  A beautiful forest, a creepy forest, a mysterious forest, A PIECE OF LAND WITH A BUNCH OF TREES is a fabulous compliment to most stories.
     But why?
     Why are we first introduced to Narnia in Lantern Waste, a forest.  Why does Gibbs have a cabin in the woods on NCIS?  Why does Red Riding Hood have to take her treacherous journey through a forest, why not along the beach or in a jungle?
     Forests, like onions and ogres, have layers.  There's the forest floor, where animals can burrow beneath underbrush.  There's the trees, where owls can scare you and squirrels can scurry and leaves can fall.  There's dense forests, where it's hard to find your path, and there are forests with clearings so that  you can have a picnic.  Forests can hold many symbols and opportunities for a story to develop.  The trees can represent strength.  Dryads are tree spirits and in Narnia each tree has a different dryad form.  Trees have personality and stability, making them great representations of humans and tradition and such.  Forests can represent safety with all of its are in which to hide (like how Snow White hid in the forest, and Sleeping Beauty was sent away to hide in the forest).  Forests can also represent danger and mystery, like how in Hansel and Gretel the unknown of the forest became their near-death experience.

     I learned in bio that legends of vampires and werewolves may have stemmed from people's perception of real illnesses.  If someone is sensitive to sun and people mistake them for witches, fleeing to the forest may be their only hope of survival.  Forests are an integral part of many beloved stories.
     Forests are a great tool for stories because they have so much to offer a scene.  Atmosphere can really make a scene come alive, and with the right description of a forest, for forests come in many varieties, one can create an amazing scene that controls the reader's senses so that their imagination transports them to a world beyond their control.  Forests offer so much depth to a story, for many things are possible in a forest, especially an enchanted forest.  You never know who you will run into or how you will survive.
     Also, forests are really pretty.
     So, the next time you find yourself marveling at God's beautiful handiwork in the form of forests, I hope you feel inspired.

     After all, if a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to see it, will people still write about it?
    

The Blog We've All Been Waiting For

      This is it.  This is the blog we've all been waiting for: this is my Narnia blog!  (Well, the first of many, haha!)
     In case you don't already know, I have what many call an "obsession" with The Chronicles of Narnia.  Also, I have been married to High King Peter since, like, fourth or fifth grade so don't even think about thinking about it!
     It seems only fitting to start with a blog post about The High King of Narnia, Sir Peter Wolfsbane, Peter Pevensie, originally from Finchley, England.

     The Chronicles of Narnia is laced with Biblical references (with the obvious including the Easter Story as told through Aslan sacrificing himself on the Stone Table to save the life of the traitor, Edmund Pevensie.  In the Bible, one of Jesus' most enthusiastic Apostles was Simon, whom Jesus renamed Peter, or Rock.  God built His church on the Rock, Jesus, but Peter also played a big part.
    Now that you sort-of have the Biblical background behind Peter, allow me to delve deeper into the character of Peter Pevensie in the book "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe".
    Peter Pevensie is the oldest of the four Pevensie children, and he has to step us as the father figure because their father is fighting in World War Two.  He feels the responsibility of a father, having to watch over his siblings as they travel to a strange new house in order to flee the air raids.  In Narnia, he makes sure to admit he was wrong to deny that Lucy had been to a magical land in the wardrobe.  He even tries to send his siblings home while he stays in Narnia to fight the war.  The gifts he receives from Father Christmas are a sword (named Rhindon) and a shield-- protection.   (Ephesians 6:16 ^"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.")
     What does all this mean?
     Peter is a superb leader.  He is sure to assume responsibility, he is sure to care for the ones he loves, and he is sure to do the right thing.  Peter the Apostle would help spread the story of Jesus Christ, and he is one of eleven Apostles who would lead the church through the ages (he wrote a couple books of the Bible).  Peter the Apostle was picked by Jesus for this job.  Peter Pevensie fought Maugrim by himself because Aslan prevented other soldiers from assisting him.  Aslan wanted him man-up.  Aslan himself coronated Peter, proclaiming him High King over Narnia and "Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen."  Aslan chose to rebuild Narnia on the reign of Peter and his siblings.
     Don't get me wrong, both Peters have their flaws.  Peter Pevensie had a bit of a stubborn, arrogant streak, and Peter the Apostle denied Jesus three times on Good Friday.  Good leaders with flaws-- after all, they are human-- that's just another parallel between the two men.
     What is the significance of all of this?  Well, The Chronicles help us learn morals through the lives of very relatable children.  Peter Pevensie is a fine (literally and figuratively) example that it IS possible for even a boy from  England to be a great leader.  The character of Peter and his biblical parallels show readers that there is a great leader inside of all of us waiting to be awakened.  Let's let the cute, blond, British High King of Narnia lead the way*.

*Keep in mind he's still mine.

All You Need Is Love

     Why does it seem that every good story has an element of romance in it?  More specifically-- why do stories include love?
     Think about it: The Princess Bride showed Westley's love for Buttercup, Inigo's love for his father, and Prince Humperdink's love of power.  James Patterson's Maximum Ride series not only had the romantic plot line of Max and Fang's relationship but also centered around the bond between the family of mutants.  Oh, and let's not forget the Easter Story, which is one of true, pure, and sacrificial love.  Be it love for another person or something as empty as love of power, every good story includes love.
     It doesn't surprise me that a desperate-in-search-of-love teenager like me would notice this, but it does make me wonder why adult authors put this emotion into their stories.  What do authors see that we as readers don't even realize we see?
     Deep down, in the caverns of everyone's hearts, we fear being alone.  We fear never being cared for like we were for nine months in the womb.  For those nine months we hadn't a worry or care, and then we came into reality and realized that a mother's love is he strongest emotion.  Then we grew up and realized that our family and friends can love us all they want but it won't compare to the butterflies we get in our stomach when that special someone is around.  We know that without love our lives would be pointless.  That is why every story needs love; every story needs to have a purpose.
     Perhaps we cling to the romance in stories because through reading we can take certain liberties-- like omitting the flaws of a handsome prince to make the perfect man, which we know does not exist.  Jonathan Gottschall wrote in The Storytelling Animal that an author sketches the scene but we fill in the details-- we can decide how tall our true lo-- I mean, the character, is and how brave he is and if he, too, is tired of hearing Bruno Mars' "Treasure".  We live vicariously through the damsel in distress because we'd like to hope that in reality we'd have enough sense not to prick our finger on a spinning wheel, so we drift off to dreamland and let the Knight in Shinning Armor carry us off into the sunset.
     Love in stories gives us the missing piece to our lives: why do you think so many housewives flocked to bookstores to get the latest romance novel?  Fabio. And all of the adventures he and Mrs.Typical-Housewife could go on in between doing the dishes and vacuuming.
     Romance, and other forms of love, keep us motivated throughout our daily lives.  An author writes to connect with the reader and inspire him or her, so its only natural that a good story would include the most necessary of all the emotions: Love.

As You Wish

Grandson: "A book?"
Grandfather: "That's right-- when I was your age television was called books.  And this is a special book;  it was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick and I used to read it to your father, and today I'm gonna read it to you."
Grandson: "Does it have any sports in it?"

     Last night it was just my father and I (and our dog) for dinner.  We prepared our feast and then settled down for a movie.  Which movie should we watch-- The Princess Bride?  The Avengers?  The Princess Bride.  It's our classic go-to movie.  It came out nine years before I was born, and it's my Dad's favorite movie.  And, once I grew out of my fear of the R.O.U.S.'s, it has become one of my favorite movies too.  We can recite virtually recite the whole movie on the spot.  I know, Inconceivable!, right?
    Before The Princess Bride became a classic '80's movie, it was a book by S. Morgenstern, and then it was abridged by William Goldman.  The movie is based on the William Goldman version, where Goldman talks about his grandfather reading the beloved story to him.  This beloved story has survived generations, and why not?  It is the quintessential fairytale: it has "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles".
After the movie, Daddy and I delved into the special features, and watched how Billy Crystal turned into Miracle Max, how dry Christopher Guest's humor really is, and how different extremely educated people interpret the Princess Bride as a fairytale.
    One mentioned how fairy tales deal heavily with magic: the wizard, the witch, the fairy godmother, and in this fairytale, Miracle max and his pill to bring Westley back to life.  One mentioned that in most fairy tales there are three helpers, but in this story there are three bad guys.  I believe that she was referring to Viccini, Fezzik, and Inigo, who kidnap Princess Buttercup when we see them the first time.  However, by the end of the movie/book, those two end up being the "good guys".  However, the story does have three bad guys by the end: Vicinni, Prince Humperdink, and Count Rugen.  One mentioned how this story not only has true love, but the separation of true love.  Westley and Buttercup fall in love, then he goes away to earn money for marriage, and then he is murdered by the Dread Pirate Roberts.  *SPOILER ALERT* Then, when the two lovers reunite, they are separated once again as they exit the fire swamp and Buttercup volunteers to go with Prince Humperdink in exchange for Westley's safety.  They mentioned how this story has elements of many fairy tales rolled into one, and that is what makes The Princess Bride beautiful.
     The Princess Bride has damsels in distress, heroes, plot twists, sword fighting, giants, traveling, quests, true love, jealousy, power-hungry royalty, magic, and heck-- it even has a secret lair hidden whose secret entrance is hidden in a tree (this lair is named "The Pit of Despair", isn't that great?).  The princess Bride manages to take cliche's and make them so lovable, so exciting,that they never get old.  This fairytale has true love not only between a man and a woman but between a father and son, two friends, and unfortunately, and man and his power.  Gosh I love this story.  I love the costumes, the fencing, Inigo and Westley, the funny quotable lines (which is like, the whole movie), and the world it creates.  This story stands the test of time because it is that awesome and developed.  You connect to the characters, you even love to hate the bad guys.  The book was a little long-winded for me but the movie will always live on in my heart.
     The cast mentioned how they are amazed at how generations of people have come to love this movie; it's timeless.  The story of the Princes Bride transcends father, daughter, athlete, romantic, you name it.  This fairytale has captured the hearts of so many people because of its many plots, excellent character development, and wittiness.  The Princess Bride is the ultimate fairytale.

Grandson: "Grandpa?  Maybe you can come by and read it to me tomorrow."
Grandfather: "As you wish."