Is that you?

Is that you?

What we do defines who we are . . . from one moment to the next.

But what we have done, what has been done to us, what we have believed, what we have thought, or any one circumstance in our life need not be that which defines and determines who we are forever. (Is that you?)

Our curses need not destroy us.

The curses that have been placed upon us . . . or the curses that we have cast upon others . . . need not destroy us.

At one time or another in our lives we have had evil perpetrated upon us (or we will). Aurora is going to have to find a way to be better than what was done to her. We are all cursed to one extent or another . . . and the ones who cursed us, hurt us, wounded us, or scarred us are seldom the ones who will remove what hangs over us. (It is a poignant scene in Maleficent, where the Evil Queen tries desperately to remove her wretched birthday gift, and fails).

Aurora finds rescue from her curse through the transformation of Maleficent. But this is a fairy tale -- and that rarely happens. If truth be told, the young princess actually finds freedom from her grief, her tears, her disappointment and hurt -- from within herself.

At the end of the film, when Aurora awakes from her cursed dream, she smiles brightly, looks up into the face of the Evil Villain of this ancient fairy tale and says, "Hello, Godmother!"

That may or may not be who Maleficent is . . . but that is who Aurora is, and how she has decided she will proceed with her life.

Forgiveness is not a gift that one bestows undeservedly upon the perpetrator of evil . . . it is the healing balm that the wounded pour into their own heart. It does not matter most what effect the young girl's gracious attitude had upon the Curser, it matters most to the Cursed. Aurora's forgiveness might not save Maleficent, but it has certainly saved Aurora from the same kind of bitterness, regret, and pointless hatred that the Queen had chosen.

Maleficent must find a way to become more than the Evil that she has created . . . more than the Evil that she has become. Because somewhere in her darkened heart that is not who she is, or who she ultimately wants to be. Who in their right mind would want to be like that? Is there anyone who wants to be despicable? Or despised? Or hated? Or feared? Or rejected?

However, the Queen was not traveling under some imagined stigma placed upon her by a superstitious village or Kingdom. (That is not who we are). She was not branded unfairly by some ignorant social opinion. (When that happens, that is not who we are, either). 

Yes, we can become who others think that we are or want us to be, but we must choose to emulate the opinions of the proper accusers. In the end, Maleficent chose to finish that which was between her and the one who stole her wings and to nurture what an innocent heart chose to see in her.

Are you cursed? Is that you?

Have you cursed others? Is that you?