People's Experiences
Here are a few in-depth interviews with people whose perspectives and lives have been touched by what they discovered in a fairy tale in the WonderLit™ programs. Shared with their permission, these stories speak to the unexpected insights, healing, and understanding that can emerge from this work. The interviews were conducted with Michelle. Each one is a treasure.
The Handless Maiden: Recovering from Abuse
Interview with Andy Frank
“... the penny finally dropped and I realized that what had happened to the Handless Maiden ... was something that had happened to me. When I finally made that connection ... a whole bunch of other things began to open up. I had answers to questions I had not been able to answer until that time. And I understood that I had a reason to reconcile with the maiden, to understand the maiden, and to reconnect with the maiden.”
The Magic Drum: Healing Lost Love
Interview with Annie Jacobsen
“I was in a mid-life crisis. I wanted a new marriage, love and security and I also wanted the freedom to pursue my writing. I had been kicked out of my old world and I wanted to find a new one.”
Cinderella: Riding with Depression
Interview with Beth Cook
“For me, the magic of stories is that they go somewhere. When we’re at points in our lives when we feel utterly lost and can’t imagine there ever being an ending or a change, the stories show us that there can be.”
Cinderella: Recovering After Loss
Interview with Katie Curtin
“... if she just stayed in her despair, the fairy godmother would not have come. Cinderella needed to have a readiness, an ability to believe that magic can exist, and that in some ways the conditions of her life can be transformed.”
Snow White: Coming to Terms with Aging
Interview with Ilene Cummings
“I had heard about telling stories and myths before, but it never really appealed to me somehow. But then I found how deep it’s possible to go. You can find aspects of yourself, of the world, of everything in these stories. They speak to many generations and they speak at a different level than we really know. The story says one thing on the surface, and yet it is saying something else on another level. That can be very upsetting, or very satisfying, but it’s very fundamental. We need to be reminded.”
Befana: When You’re Lost and Found
Interview with Pina Marchese
“We need these stories to guide us. The star is in these stories. Bethlehem is in these stories. There’s birth in these stories. They help us to awaken, these stories… Once you find the star, and you truly wake up, you can live your life. You can feel it, you can smell it, you can hear it. And you don’t fear it”