After Happily Ever After....

***Warning: blog contains high level of cynicism and may offend those with fairytale-like expectations of out of life***

So my idea of a good night in is sitting up on the couch watching Disney princess movies and coloring.  Yes I know that sounds like what you used to do when you were eight, but what could ever make a girl smile more than watching an innocent girl fall in love with a man who has never loved another woman in his life, and will do anything for her.  Like slay an evil dragon, try to put a glass slipper on every woman's foot in the town, stay a beast for the rest of his life, or even death.  A story of perfect love, that story all girls- no matter what age look for.  But when watching my large collection of Disney movies I noticed one similarity with all the stories, love comes easy, and ends happily ever after.  Nobody knows what happens after the credits roll.  How do we know that Cinderella and her Prince were truly made for each other?  They danced together one night and then got married.  What if they had different opinions about life and ended up fighting the rest of their marriage.  What if Ariel missed her tail and the ocean and wanted to go back to her friends and her life before marrying a man she actually never spoke a word to in the whole movie?  How do we know that the Beast didn't become cocky again after he got his beautiful body back, and Belle didn't love him as much?

I know I sound cynical, and I truly hate that I do.  I love Disney movies and will probably never stop watching them, no matter how old I get.  But I think that those Disney movies we all grew up watching gave some of us flawed expectations about the concept of love.  Because contrary to Disney's belief, love doesn't come easy or at first sight, and sometimes it doesn't end happily ever after.

Some love stories are short stories, but that doesn't mean they aren't love stories just the same.  In high school, and at our age, there is a small percentage of us that will marry our high school sweethearts, and even fewer who can make it last.  But that doesn't mean that some don't make it last forever like Cinderella.  But some get their hearts broken.  One of my friends just got her heart broken, by a guy she loved.  That doesn't mean that they didn't love each other, but that it didn't end happily ever after.

So that's my question, what happens after happily ever after?  Movies never show us what happens after the two people fall in love.  They don't show the hardships of being in love, of being married.  Love doesn't always last.  And when it does, its hard, it takes hard work, and if it doesn't last until forever, it just means he wasn't your prince charming.

Because I always have words of wisdom: Love is hard, and just because you love someone doesn't mean it always ends happily ever after.  But that doesn't mean that there wasn't love or that there isn't a prince charming out there for you.  You just have to kiss a few frogs to find him :)  But be careful, because life rarely ends like a Disney movie.  Believe me I wish I could dance with a boy one night and fall in love at first sight.  But love takes work, and sometimes it hurts. 

You are all probably saying, "So what Sydney?  Are you saying don't bother with love and live in a cynical world where live doesn't exist?  My answer is this:  Nope :) because like I said before even short love stories are still love stories.  My point is love isn't an easy fairytale that just happens and life becomes easy.  And even though you don't always know how it ends; what you get before that can be magical.:)