Eating cherries with a ghost

“The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” – W.H. Auden

Everyone loves Fairy Tales, and everyone has their favourite. For me they have been the basis for a certain way of viewing the world- muddled up with dreams and magic, influencing my creative work, my approach to relationships and even (to some extent) my personal politics and philosophy. They are a form of escapism, a place where anything can happen- where you can walk through a door into another world and eat cherries with a ghost.

Anyone who used to stare out the window daydreaming at school will know that the sense of freedom these stories evoke in a person is one of the best, most gratifying kinds of freedom that there is. Nowadays, when everything can seem to be a little utilitarian, what could be better than opening a book and reading about worlds where you can wander into enchanted woodlands and avoid getting eaten by terrible flesh-eating witches or crocodiles that can talk? Not much.

It’s a shame that somewhere along the line (in the 19th and 20th Centuries by all accounts) Fairy Tales ceased to be for everyone and became exclusively for children. More and more we are losing touch with nature’s mysticism. The oral tradition has died out a little due to the breakdown of communities and Grand Theft Auto.

This is the reason why it’s important to read stuff out loud. Poems, stories, fairy tales. Do it  on a Saturday evening, or whenever. Read things you’ve written, read out a takeaway menu in a silly voice. 

Listening to the musicality of words adds a whole new layer of meaning and enjoyment to a text. You could even read this out! (might be a bit boring). It’s not supposed to be a performance- it is merrymaking, and there’s nothing wrong with that.