Once Upon A Time

*LEFT: Earrings, Pearl Belt/Harness by DOPL* *Website*/*Instagram, Purple belt by Malice Threads* *Website*/*Instagram. RIGHT: Earrings, harness/belt, head scarf, Necklace by DOPL* *Website*/*Instagram*.

Every fairytale has basic elements — beauty, escapism, and a dash of magic. In the land of make-belief, the laws of the human world disappear, rationalizing eternity and immortality.

Fairytales rely on an individual’s imagination, arguably, the highest form of creative power, because it relies on the human mind envisioning a space it has never experienced. The hopeless romantic sees the love they want and the material girl sees the power in commodities to transform her life: Cinderella needed the perfect glass slippers to be with Prince Charming and without Dorthy’s ruby red slippers, she never would have made it home to Kansas.

As children, we are encouraged to devour fairy tales to teach us lessons about morality, and more importantly, to feed our curious brains. So, where does our desire for fantasy go when we get older?

The truth is, our desire for fantasy never leaves us. We are all vessels of consciousness, and within us, lies our inner child, which is the manifestation of our childhood memories and childhood emotions. This part of us remains within our consciousness, our whole lives. Our inner child epitomizes how our past selves and experiences shape our present and future selves. When we neglect connecting to our inner child, we are essentially allowing a void inside of us to expand. Each person has a different relationship with themselves and, therefore, connecting to childhood looks different for everyone.

*Earrings by DOPL* *Website*/*Instagram*

Some people may connect to their inner child by building nostalgic parts of their childhood into their everyday lives. This can take the form of drawing, attending a ballet class, flying a kite, eating your favorite childhood sweet, or the smell of your childhood home. When we find these moments for ourselves we can connect to our inner selves on a deeper level and take a break from the fast-moving society we live in.

Individuals can also romanticize their life through their personal style. This can be seen in the rise of hyper-specific aesthetics – Barbiecore, Balletcore, Cottagecore, Fairycore, and Gorpcore. Each of these micro-trends is unique, highlighting how individuals enjoy the escapism of constructing their own lives around childhood comforts. Through fashion and clothing, we can momentarily escape our daily lives and become a character for the day. The power and fullness we feel when we play this character are all fuel for our inner child that we can take into our daily life.

When we take the time to imagine, we allow ourselves to escape into a place full of infinite possibilities and boundless opportunities, just like the fairytales we used to read as children. By connecting with our inner child we are able to romanticize our life and fill our souls, reminding us how powerful our minds are in dictating our reality.