COLUMN: venturing through the woods of life
I learned at a very young age that you can learn something about life every day if you know where to look and are willing to learn.
These life lessons can sometimes be gleaned from the most unlikely places. Take the theater for example. Most people view the theater as a form of entertainment or expression. I look at it as a veritable wellspring of knowledge.
Whether intentional on the part of the writers, directors and cast or whether I just read too much into things, I find I learn a lot from really paying attention to the lyrics of the songs included in much of musical theater. Take Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods” for example.
The show includes some well-known fairy tale characters including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack (of beanstalk fame) as they interact with a childless baker and his wife striving to remedy the problem by collecting items for the witch who placed the spell on them. The first act ends at “happily ever after” while the second act shows that sometimes what we get isn’t always what we wished for, and that all wishes have consequences.
Confused yet? Don’t be. Believe me, I’ve really simplified the plot. So with that introduction, here are some lessons I learned from “Into the Woods.”
1. Venturing into the world. Each of the characters was either dissatisfied with their lot in life or were searching for something more. The baker and his wife wanted a child, Cinderella wanted to attend the ball, Jack wanted to keep his cow, the witch wanted her beauty back, Rapunzel wished to be free, etc.
To get these wishes granted, each of the characters had to go into the woods to find the answers. As the baker said, “Into the woods, it’s time to go, It may be all in vain you know. Into the woods – but even so, I have to take the journey.” As the characters had to go into the woods, so we have to go out into the world to find what we are looking for. It may be a bit scary, and we may not succeed, but we have to take the journey before we will know.
2. Experiences, whether good or bad, all change us. Longing for adventure, Jack climbed the beanstalk, confronted the giant and stole his magical harp and a hen that lays golden eggs. But during the adventure, Jack decides he misses his home. He sings “And you think of all of the things you’ve seen, and you wish that you could live in between, and you’re back again, only different than before, after the sky.”
Even though Jack wasn’t satisfied at home or adventuring, he learned that the decisions you make in life do affect you, and you are never quite the same again.
3. Discover who you are and what you want. Cinderella, who has run away from the prince on two previous occasions, at one point finds herself stuck to steps of the palace. The prince has spread pitch on the stairs, and she is now faced with the decision to run away or stay and let herself get caught. Her biggest concern is that she is not really royalty and that the prince may not like her for who she is. She asks herself, “Although, how can you know who you are ’till you know what you want?”
One of the biggest things we face in life is deciding who we are and deciding what we want out of life. Without a purpose, we are all floating along getting “stuck” in the pitch of life.
4. Wishes take work to fulfill. At the end of the first act, the characters have received their wishes, and think they are happy. They give us a great insight into pursuing our wishes. “When you know your wish, if you want your wish, you can have your wish, but you can’t just wish.”
5. Learn from your mistakes and go on. During Act II, the baker’s wife is seduced by Cinderella’s prince who loves her and leaves her. She makes two important realizations after the experience. First, “Oh, if life were made of moments, even now and then a bad one – but if life were only moments, then you’d never know you had one.”
She learns that life cannot be taken for granted, but it also cannot always be full of the stuff of dreams.
Second, “Let the moment go … Don’t forget it for a moment, though. Just remembering you’ve had an ‘and,’ when you’re back to ‘or,’ makes the ‘or’ mean more than it did before.”
The baker’s wife had the chance to give up everything she had grown to love, and when confronted with the decision, she realized how much those parts of her life meant to her.
6. Running from problems doesn’t solve them. Overwhelmed with life, the baker runs from those relying on him. He meets a mysterious old man who teaches him “Running away – go to it. Where did you have in mind? Have to take care: Unless there’s a “where,” you’ll only be wandering blind. Just more questions. Different kind.”
Sometimes we may not think we can face our problems, so we do things to escape from them. But, these reactions usually only lead to more questions, sometimes harder to answer.
7. No one is alone. Cinderella, Jack, Little Red and the Baker’s wife are all left with losses and wondering what to do and where to go. Cinderella tries to comfort Red by singing “Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood. Others may deceive you. You decide what’s good. You decide alone. But no one is alone.”
All of us have to make our own decisions through life, but none of us have to do so alone. We can get advice from friends and family members. We can rely on others to help us get through the woods. For “each time you go, there’s more to learn.”
So there are just a few of the lessons that can be learned from this show. Life really is just a stage, and all of us are players in the comedy of life. How we present ourselves may change from day to day, but all of us have a common goal – making it to the curtain call.