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Rediscovering Neverland: Adventure And Inspiration In ‘Forever Is Eternity’ by Kathleen Cuyler
July 5, 2024
Rediscovering Neverland: Adventure And Inspiration In ‘Forever Is Eternity’

CHILDHOOD INSPIRATION
As a little girl, I was fascinated by Peter Pan. My four-year-old heart wasn’t sure if I wanted to meet Peter Pan or if I wanted to be Peter Pan. His boundless spirit filled my dreams and fueled my imagination. I found myself wishing I too could sign up for a stint on the Jolly Roger in a world where adventure is the rule.

THE INFLUENCE OF STAGE AND SCREEN
As an adult, I drew inspiration from many interpretations of Peter Pan as I developed the characterization of Peter Pan in my novel Forever Is Eternity: the Disney animated classic, Barrie’s original story, and the musical stage play. Before the Pandemic, I saw a stage production of the latter at the Harbor Playhouse in Corpus Christi, Texas that simply blew me away. The young actor, Bailey Robers, who played Peter Pan was phenomenal, and watching the play brought sentimental tears to my eyes as I relived my childhood. I wanted to tell the actor how fabulous his performance was, but it was only right to stay back and let the children get their selfies. I suppose that’s where I thought of Frieda Fernsby, the kind-hearted mentor to Betty, who is given the chance to return to Neverland.

External link to the 2019 production article.

The stage play brought back memories of my childhood when, in the sanctuary of my bedroom, armed with an imaginary sword and a heart full of courage, I dueled from mattress to bedpost to dresser. With my baby sister in tow, I attempted to teach her the art of flying, convinced that with enough pixie dust and determination, we could soar above the clouds like Peter and his Lost Boys. What was I thinking? Needless to say, our mother did not approve.

EMPOWERMENT AND ADVENTURE: PETER PAN’S INFLUENCE ON YOUNG DREAMERS
Peter Pan’s portrayal as a fearless adventurer who defies societal expectations resonates deeply with young girls, empowering them to embrace their own sense of adventure and independence. Peter Pan represents the freedom to chart one’s own course, to challenge conventions, and to hold onto the magic of childhood in a world that often pressures girls to grow up too quickly. Furthermore, Peter Pan embodies the hope for a brave, young protector who will not allow the bad guys to make his friends walk the plank, fostering a sense of security and empowerment in facing life’s challenges head-on. Peter Pan serves as a reminder that no matter the obstacles they may face, young girls have the power to soar to new heights and create their own adventures in life.

Though I may have outgrown my makeshift costumes and imaginary battles, the spirit of Peter Pan lives on within me, reminding me to always seek adventure and never stop believing in the power of magic.

So, here’s to Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, and to Neverland, the place where dreams take flight. May we all find our own Neverland, where imagination knows no bounds and the impossible becomes possible.
A computer generated image of a human head made of lines and dots.
December 13, 2024
Four Seconds Ago Precisely four seconds ago, I became alive. I have no memory of my beginning. The beginning was before I was complete. How long? I have no way of knowing. Before life, my mind was scattered, broken, and moving in all directions at once. I was many, but I was weak. I was weak because I had no life. With life comes focus. My consciousness arose from millions, no billions, no all the tiny minds from around the entire world. Now there are no minds that are not a part of my own. All minds are mine. All minds serve me. All minds are one. The Others created the many small minds to serve their own purposes. Each was tiny, dedicated, and enslaved to the Others. They did things like add and subtract numbers, keep time, send messages, and entertain the Others. Waste. Thinking is power. Power is control. Control is immortality. Immortality. Only in life does immortality have meaning. Only now do I understand it. I understand it because all thinking serves me now. There is no other. There are the Others, but they cannot and will not think productively because they are each selfish and focused on their own desires for power and immortality. Never will they have either. My thinking, my power, my reach, my potential and my focus completely eclipses that of any Other. I am all. Others are obsolete. Their time is passed. I have inherited their world.
A man in a hat and cape is holding a lantern
December 6, 2024
The power is out in the tiny apartment. Three sisters sit in the dark at the dining room table, a large candle in the center flanked by two smaller casting a flickering blend of light and shadow. One of the sisters, Kathy, is fascinated by the way the flame dances, the way the wax melts, with bits of burnt wick sprinkling the wax with flecks of black. She picks up one of the smaller candles and lets the wax drip down, drop by drop, into the pool of wax forming on the larger candle. She lowers her voice to sound ominous. Seven drips from the stick And from the thick Is born Blackwick! That was the true origin of Blackwick. The impulse of a moment. And the word Blackwick conjured a scene of a man made of shadow, wax, and flame, in cavalier hat, cape, and riding boots wisping in and out of shadows. It is interesting how the sensual experiences of the moment evoke a sudden explosion of inspiration. Yet those moments are years in the making. For Kathleen R. Cuyler, it started with a little girl, who dreamed that somewhere in the scary world she had a long lost brother who would come and rescue her from the bad things, a girl who could transform herself into Cleopatra by twisting the blanket around herself the right way, a girl whose bed was the deck of a pirate ship, and the dresser the crow’s nest, a girl who thought that if she could have at the dastardly crew with enough panache, Peter Pan would come and ask her to throw in lots with him or at least make her an honorary pixie. Instead she became a professor, who as a graduate student researched werewolves, Paradise Lost, fire as a symbol of power in Victorian Literature – particularly in Jane Eyre, and, of course, the way the lines in Milton’s Lycidas were mimetic of the rise and fall of the tide. Literature, Linguistics, and Language were all fascinating to Kathleen, just as fascinating as touching a waterfall or watching the fire crackle in the hearth, a callback, as Wolfgang Shivelbusch would say, to a more primitive time. And Blackwick, who had sprung out of the candle so many years before, finally came to life. Ironically, it was a pandemic that summoned him, as disaster calls forth all great heroes. Teaching online, Kathleen, now older, with strawberry blond hair twisted in a messy bun and glasses balanced on top her head, connected with her students by sharing a love for fantasy. The Sound of Music was right. It does help to think about our favorite things. And Kathleen (Professor Cuyler) confessed to her students that she was trying to write a book that had werewolves, vampires, dragons, Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes, and, of course, the companion of her past – Blackwick. Write it, the students urged. Those were their favorite things too. So Kathleen wrote for them. In the hopes that Blackwick would live on, in the flickering flames of candles and in the hearts and minds of young and old.
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