The Guardians of Children
My sisters and I watched "Rise of the Guardian" today. And I loved it. The story itself is simple. But it does speak so much about how we sometimes feel in this world. And it reminded me of what I had as a child, but had lost growing up.
Invisibility and Belief
Most of us know how it feels to be invisible. Like nobody believes in us. I know the feeling. And I can totally relate when the Guardians lost power when people didn't believe in them. I lose power, the feeling of magic, the feeling that it can be achieved, whenever the people I value shoot down my ideas. I feel the disappearance of my wings, the sudden onset of tiredness, and how small and powerless I suddenly feel. Then I feel the change, the desire to turn into a bogeyman, the feeling of bitterness taking root, pitch black darkness covering my heart, and the need to strike fear in the hearts of those who didn't believe in me. But underneath it all, there is that tiny speck of fear that I feel, myself. Fear that I have no power. Fear that I will be invisible and worthless, just as my ideas had been.
The Guardians
The things that can save me from that darkness, I have observed, are those Guardians: gifts from the Man in the Moon, my Lord and my Light in the darkness. I recall the happy memories with the ones who shot me down, and remember that these people do love me, and didn't really intend to make me feel bad. They simply didn't understand. I look to other things and feel wonder and awe, and I can create new plans, new ideas. And my wings grow again. I have a little bit of fun, and the darkness disappears. And I can dream again. I can hope again.
Conversely, if I don't try to recall happy memories, if I don't have fun, if I don't find wonder around me, it is hard to fight off the darkness. Dreams die. And hope becomes so hard to find.
I had struggled with this for a time. Broken dreams have released Pitch Black into my world. And I didn't want to recall memories. The happy memories were locked right along with the sad. I didn't find wonder in my world. It's so difficult to find wonder in this world nowadays. And fun? I don't even remember how to have fun anymore. My world was a collection of responsibilities and duties. Of things that had to be done. Of things that had to be taken care of.
I had forgotten the Guardians. They no longer defended my world. I had grown up and stopped believing.
Conclusion
We need these Guardians. I believe the five are really Guardians of children. I believed in them when I was a child. I want to again. But I will not hold on to these Guardians' past glories. This is an age where it's a little difficult to convince children of the existence of Santa Clause because National Geographic shows what the North Pole actually looks like. And people nowadays don't really sleep anymore, so it's hard to convince kids nobody just ever catches the Tooth Fairy. The time of these forms has come to an end. These Guardians must shed their old forms (Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Jack Frost, and the Easter Bunny), strip down to what they really are at the core (wonder, happy memories, dreams, fun, and hope), and don a new form more suitable to this current age.
And we, who have believed, we need to help them out. We need to revive them and give them power once more before they completely vanish from the face of this Earth. We must help them have a new form, and become relevant to the people of this age, not just for the children, but for all the hearts in this world. Because they are in our hearts, in a constant battle with darkness and fear. And you know what? The darkness is strong in this age.
We must remember them, and remember them for what they are: gifts from the Man on the Moon. Gifts to chase away the fears and the nightmares, Guardians of children. Guardians of the child in all of us.
It is no wonder the Man on the Moon says it is the children who will enter His Kingdom. When we "grow up" and stop believing, it is so easy for the darkness to swallow us.
Invisibility and Belief
Most of us know how it feels to be invisible. Like nobody believes in us. I know the feeling. And I can totally relate when the Guardians lost power when people didn't believe in them. I lose power, the feeling of magic, the feeling that it can be achieved, whenever the people I value shoot down my ideas. I feel the disappearance of my wings, the sudden onset of tiredness, and how small and powerless I suddenly feel. Then I feel the change, the desire to turn into a bogeyman, the feeling of bitterness taking root, pitch black darkness covering my heart, and the need to strike fear in the hearts of those who didn't believe in me. But underneath it all, there is that tiny speck of fear that I feel, myself. Fear that I have no power. Fear that I will be invisible and worthless, just as my ideas had been.
The Guardians
The things that can save me from that darkness, I have observed, are those Guardians: gifts from the Man in the Moon, my Lord and my Light in the darkness. I recall the happy memories with the ones who shot me down, and remember that these people do love me, and didn't really intend to make me feel bad. They simply didn't understand. I look to other things and feel wonder and awe, and I can create new plans, new ideas. And my wings grow again. I have a little bit of fun, and the darkness disappears. And I can dream again. I can hope again.
Conversely, if I don't try to recall happy memories, if I don't have fun, if I don't find wonder around me, it is hard to fight off the darkness. Dreams die. And hope becomes so hard to find.
I had struggled with this for a time. Broken dreams have released Pitch Black into my world. And I didn't want to recall memories. The happy memories were locked right along with the sad. I didn't find wonder in my world. It's so difficult to find wonder in this world nowadays. And fun? I don't even remember how to have fun anymore. My world was a collection of responsibilities and duties. Of things that had to be done. Of things that had to be taken care of.
I had forgotten the Guardians. They no longer defended my world. I had grown up and stopped believing.
Conclusion
We need these Guardians. I believe the five are really Guardians of children. I believed in them when I was a child. I want to again. But I will not hold on to these Guardians' past glories. This is an age where it's a little difficult to convince children of the existence of Santa Clause because National Geographic shows what the North Pole actually looks like. And people nowadays don't really sleep anymore, so it's hard to convince kids nobody just ever catches the Tooth Fairy. The time of these forms has come to an end. These Guardians must shed their old forms (Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Jack Frost, and the Easter Bunny), strip down to what they really are at the core (wonder, happy memories, dreams, fun, and hope), and don a new form more suitable to this current age.
And we, who have believed, we need to help them out. We need to revive them and give them power once more before they completely vanish from the face of this Earth. We must help them have a new form, and become relevant to the people of this age, not just for the children, but for all the hearts in this world. Because they are in our hearts, in a constant battle with darkness and fear. And you know what? The darkness is strong in this age.
We must remember them, and remember them for what they are: gifts from the Man on the Moon. Gifts to chase away the fears and the nightmares, Guardians of children. Guardians of the child in all of us.
It is no wonder the Man on the Moon says it is the children who will enter His Kingdom. When we "grow up" and stop believing, it is so easy for the darkness to swallow us.
