29

“In the original story, good and evil co-exist. There is no need for a prince to save the day by slaying the evil sea witch. Perhaps this makes even more sense when you realize what I feel is the strongest lesson.”

“What is that?”

“That the real battle is between us and nature, our own human nature of ‘good and evil.’ Or rather, light and dark as I like to think of it, with the dark side of ourselves expressed as our lust for immortality.”

Immortality. It occurred to her that the story was about religion and modern societies’ fame seekers too. It was about the perils and lengths people would go to for personal immortality or fame, and perhaps salvation. The very effort would come at the expense of family and at the expense of society. They would come at the expense of living life itself. Come to think of it, it was like the vampire stories that Nathan had said came from the darkness of the year without summer. Vampires whose lust for immortality had led them to only be able to live in a world of darkness. They were stories of personal ego gone mad. It was too much pride.

She went quiet, stunned at how such a insightful and instructive fairy tale could have been so distorted. A distortion that was seen by millions of children, over and over again.

...

She began to wonder about all the other movies she had seen. What other life lessons had they simplified, or outright twisted and distorted to suit their own purposes? Their marketing purposes to sell more music tapes, compact discs, DVDs, and stuffed creatures. It was a cartoonish, exploitative view of nature they were selling, and it had worked spectacularly indeed. We romanticize what we fear she realized.

“That life doesn’t always have happy endings too,” she blurted out.

Lars added, “It’s a vicious circle. If people always expect to feel happy, then they will feel defensive and criticize others for anything going against that idea, this can only lead to trouble, for life is opposites.”

Rather than lusting for immortality, like vampires or the young mermaid, the key was to live more fully in the present. The past and future were important, but not at the expense of the present. The lust for immortality led only to a fear of life itself, like sun on a vampire. The very act of lusting for immortality too, also meant that she was beholden to a deep cycle of good and bad. The very idea that romantic love between two people lasting forever, that was a lust for immortality too she realized. There was only one enemy, the enemy within.

Life wasn’t about always trying to feel good. It was good to dream, but to not lose touch with real life, as that could be much more satisfying. If she lived life with too many expectations of herself - a life of discontent would follow. She couldn’t make joy and happiness, she had to grow them. Besides, the best moments would probably sneak up on her when she least expected them. She turned off her brain, and followed her instincts.