During the December holidays, themes of love, kindness, and compassion are all around us. As writers of books for children, we should always strive to include these important themes.
In the words of Ebenezer Scrooge: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!"
As I've mused on the ways that our hearts are inspired during the holidays, the idea of Light came to mind. Light is an important element in Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Why is that? While in each celebration light symbolizes something a bit different than the others, one thing they all have in common is the idea that love is light.
In the writing of fantasy stories - or movies - a common theme is: Light will overcome the Darkness. While that may seem like a convenient premise for writers, I believe it's true. If light is love, then Love will overcome Hate is another way to basically say the same thing.
In these dark and turbulent political times, it's more important than ever that our stories reflect a kindness, acceptance, compassion, and love toward all mankind. It is up to us, those who speak to the next generation through our stories, to remind our youth that being of the highest character (being a good person!) is the best gift they can give themselves. Spreading the light of love can be done everyday in big and small ways. It's the only way our society will return to some human decency; if we each strive to shine a bit brighter in our world.
"To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness in yourself." C. S. Lewis
