A Wrinkle in Time: The Healing Child-Me Needs

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A Wrinkle in Time, accepting yourself, gaining your power, healing, healing the child in us, movie, thoughts

When I heard a movie was being made from one of my favorite childhood books, I nearly died of joy. The book A Wrinkle in Time changed my view of books, not just a story but an emotional experience, a book of wonderful ideas and a creepy darkness. As I’ve gotten older and moved here and there, a few books have accompanied me on that journey from childhood to…well, now. A Wrinkle in Time is one of those special books.

There it is…creased and loved and held together with contact paper. I can’t remember where I got it, but I’ve had it forever.

I love this cover more than the fancy new one.

My daughter and I went to see the movie yesterday. I know it’s not been a favorite. The reviews aren’t good. I was told not to go see it. But I needed to see it. I needed to see someone’s vision of the book.

The movie was a feast for my heart and soul. I am Meg. I have always been Meg. Not just pre-teen-me, but present-me.

The movie follows the book pretty darn good, though that wasn’t a priority for me. Tessering from one place to another…the constant search for Meg’s missing father. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which are portrayed a bit differently than the book, but it didn’t bother me. Everyone has a vision and everyone has a right to let that shine. I love to see others’ interpretations! When the books and movies differ that adds a whole new wonderful experience.

Costumes. Make-up. Effects. Acting. Writing. I didn’t spend time analyzing any of it. I watched the movie and enjoyed the movie. I went on the adventure. The only thing that bothered me was Mrs. Who, her character felt a bit flat.

I took child-me to see this movie. I let child-me experience it…though present-me was more than willing. This is based on a middle grade book. A fantasy. A way for Meg to gain her power, to love herself. So, this is a kid movie. An escape. That’s what I let it be.

Meg faces the dark within herself. A girl with beautiful curly hair, who hates her hair. A girl who won’t let anyone close to her because she isn’t worth it. A girl who won’t ask the questions because she fears the answers. A girl who isn’t good enough.

This was…well, still is me.

The power of this movie exists in Meg’s journey, how she grows, how she starts out hiding from the world, not believing in herself, to learning to fight for her life and holding her head up high because of who she is. Because the universe came together over so much time, so much energy to create her.

So much of this movie hit the perfect emotional notes for me. Meg doesn’t believe in herself. She doesn’t like herself. When asked if she would like to return as someone else, she says yes. How many kids feel like this? How many adults?

As the adventure continues, Meg goes because her little brother means so much to her and he keeps running off into the fray. The more she discovers, the more she realizes her power. In the end, when her father, the adult, the one who is supposed to fix everything, when he cuts his losses and runs, Meg stays. She fights. She can’t see the consequences, what she might lose, only what she has to do. She saves her little brother, she saves herself by embracing her faults as strengths, by seeing only what she can see. It’s magical.

And the IT. The darkness that invades the universe. Meg learns to see it. Not just in herself, but in everyone. That mean girl at school is hurting just as much. That self-doubt can be defeated with the light let in through the pain.

The love of Meg for her adoptive little brother is wonderful. The new friendship she makes with Calvin gives her strength.

Love conquers all. Love of family, of friends, of self. The movie left me crying happy tears, left child-me wrapped up in a warm embrace. My heart and soul drank in the light of this movie. So many don’t believe in themselves, suffer from the black of the IT. But we all have the light within us to defeat it and the light grows when we let in others.

All the time, all the energy the Universe used to create us…what a marvelous thought. Everyone has a place. Everyone has a worth. Everyone is important.

A Wrinkle in Time is light in the dark.

The Finish Line: I Can See It! Can You See It?

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finishing the draft, the end, thoughts, word count, writing

Word count is important as the writing happens. Watching the words grow is a huge part of creating a manuscript. I write down my word count at the end of every day so I can see the progress. One word or 1000 words more and I am a happy writer.

The first 5,000 words…the first 10,000 words…

25,000

50,000

But…

Eventually, the word count doesn’t matter anymore. I still keep track, but am no longer waiting for the next milestone. Scenes click into place. The end of the story comes together.

This is where I am now.

I reached the top of the hill made of words and am on my way down. The scenes come faster in my mind, the emotions run high.

Now, the worries of the manuscript being good enough, of it being what I want, of CAN I EVEN WRITE ANOTHER BOOK all fade. I will get to the end, where all the words sit in a pile waiting for me to mold them into the best book it can be. Revising is easier for me than drafting. Blank pages hold all the fear. Words ready to be changed, deleted, and added to make me happy.

Of course, after I finish, the words will be pushed into a dark corner to wait. Revising works better when I forget what I’ve written.

What to do in-between? I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T CARE! I’m not going to think about it.

I’m going to have a party. BECAUSE I WILL HAVE WRITTEN ANOTHER BOOK!

How this keeps happening? I have no idea. Writing a book is such a daunting task. Starting on page one leaves a heavy weight of doubt as to whether it is possible. But writers write.

Fast. Slow.

One word at a time.

Months. Years.

We do it. We push through the doubt and fear.

Because we have stories to share.

Happily Whatever After

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happily ever after, live for the moment, thoughts

I recently read The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. My daughter loves these books and, since I’m on a middle grade reading frenzy, I thought I would finally pick them up.

I enjoyed them! Adventures. Humor. Great characters. A world of fairytales.

And this wonderful very un-fairytale-like thought at the end, one I whole-heartedly agree with.

Happily ever after isn’t real.

Happily ever after is a dream fairytales give us…a dream continued in the romance genre, heck it’s a requirement for those books. When the point is reached where everything falls into place. When everything is going to be great from then on.

This is simply not real.

Which is why people read them. Sometimes we like not real. We like the dream come true. We like to live in a place where everything is okay.

The escape is nice. But…

Happiness isn’t something you reach, a platform you climb on top of and relax. It’s what you hold onto when you can wrap a finger around it and try to keep it from slipping away.

But there’s always change, another challenge waiting to twist our feelings, try our strength. Happiness is something we fight for, work towards.

There are no happily ever afters. Only happy in the moment, finding happiness everyday, facing every challenge hoping to get back to the joy. As much as happily ever after sounds like a good thing, the place to be, even if it did exist, life is better with the fight. As much as life can hurt, that only makes the happiness stronger, better when we are able to hold it, for the moment it is ours.

Live for those moments. Strive to reach them, knowing you have to work to keep it. Knowing the work is worth it.