This week I was looking for something in the cupboard, when I discovered a long-forgotten copy of “Peter Pan” and took it away to read again.
It’s interesting how stories read to us in childhood take on a new meaning when we read them again as adults, many years later.
No doubt as children we do absorb the meaning and morals of these tales but when we come back to them later in life, we can say “Ah I see it now”, because life has taught us the same lessons as the story once did.
Peter Pan written by J M Barrie is a story about the innocence, naivete and dependence of childhood and how if we are going to grow up and discover our own authority and agency, we have to leave that behind.
The story of Peter Pan is of a mischievous little boy who can fly and has many adventures on the island of Neverland. The island is inhabited by mermaids, fairies, Native Americans and pirates. And Peter refuses to grow up and encourages three children, Wendy, John and Michael Darling, to leave the safety of their suburban childhood and experience the storyland where he exists, including Peter’s fairy Tinker Bell, The Lost Boys and Captain Hook.
The story is teaching children and all of us about being prepared to live in the real world rather than in a fantasy land that stops us from growing up, finding our purpose and fulfilling our potential. Although we may be tempted, encouraged and persuaded to continue to live a fictitious lie.
And yet, the magic of tales such as Peter Pan should not be lost because they also teach us important lessons such as how to believe in ourselves, to seek adventure and to have a vision of and strive for a world that is kinder and more beautiful.
Perhaps the true gift of Peter Pan is not the promise that we can avoid growing up, but the reminder that real growth begins when we are willing to face our inner conflicts, step out of fantasy, and take responsibility for the choices that shape our lives and our work.
And so, I invite you to reflect on where you may be holding yourself back — personally or professionally — and consider what might become possible if you chose to meet those tensions with courage, curiosity and compassion rather than escape.
“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust”
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it”
– J M Barrie from “Peter Pan” –