Sleeping Beauty Reimagined by Barb Greenberg

I’ve always had an issue with this fairy tale mainly because Sleeping Beauty spends most of her of her time, well, sleeping. The story begins when a princess is born, and four fairies are each asked to give her a special gift. The first fairy announces that she will be beautiful, the second, that she be sweet, and the third, that she be graceful. Then a  crabby fairy suddenly appears and proclaims that when the princess turns sixteen, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel spindle, of all things, and die. The fourth fairy comes to the rescue and says she won’t die, only fall asleep for one hundred years until a prince appears, and she’s awaken by the kiss of her true love. Geez.

            A few points I’d like to make.

            Each of us is already blessed with certain gifts whether or not fairies announced them, for fairies are not always correct. We may already sense the gifts that we possess, or we may choose to go in search of them, or we may trip over them when we least expect it.

            The crabby fairy is so very crabby, because she understands that if beauty, sweetness, and grace are the only gifts the princess is given, she will certainly die by the time she is sixteen, because no one offered her the gifts of courage and adventure, strength and curiosity, purpose and self worth.

            The word Sleeping. As painful as a prick from a spindle may be, I don’t believe it would put anyone to sleep. In fact, it’s often the pain that wakes us up, though we may realize it only after we can catch our breath and look back at what has happened. Waking up can be confusing and even frightening. Most of us have had times in our lives when we preferred to hit the snooze alarm. Yet, waking up is also a gift, and a powerful one. 

            And true love. I have a feeling you know what I’m going to say. It’s up to each of us to be compassionate with, and truly love ourselves, as imperfectly as that may be, which can be a challenge, as I well know from personal experience. We don’t need a prince for that, though the support and love of one is always to be treasured.

            The word Beauty can seem loaded with pressure to look a certain way, to fit in, and to judge ourselves or others. It is also a great word to use when someone wants to sell you stuff. But, the word also applies to your spirit.

            My hope is that you always remain Awake to the Beauty that you carry within you and that you offer to the world.