Fairy Tales

I've always loved fairy tales. Maybe a little too much. I've probably let them seep into my brain a little too much. As cynical as I pretend to be, I've always dreamed that some day, my prince would come along and sweep me off my feet and we'd live happily ever after. Maybe it's also the fact that I'm a Pisces, who are known for being dreamers. Maybe my mom should have told me over and over again that fairy tails are fiction. But is that harmful? Is it so bad to dream? I'm not sure.

On one hand, believing in fairy tales leads to unrealistic expectations. It also leads to a certain "rescue" mentality- that is, that we feel we need to be rescued by the handsome prince. It also makes it a little difficult to appreciate when you do have a real prince in your life. We keep expecting certain behaviors that we've seen in fairy tales and romantic comedies. Romance novels are also guilty in that regards. They all follow a formula: girl meets boy; girl and boy fall in love; some kind of disaster/friction/fight ensues; girl and boy separate; boy realizes how much he misses and loves girl; boy goes after girl...and of course, they live happily ever after and everything is perfect from then on.

Does this set us up for failure? Does it make us think that when we fall in love, no matter what happens, everything will work out in the end? And of course, when it doesn't, we're completely crushed. Is it healthy to have such high expectations of relationships?

On the other hand, I sometimes think that my dreams make me happy. I daydream a lot and my daydreams make me feel like there is hope. Is that so bad? If we stop hoping for the fairy tail, are we setting ourselves up to be cynical and angry?