Finding Balance: Embracing Playfulness While Grounded in Reality

While being light-hearted and free-spirited can be positive traits, there is also value in grounding oneself and embracing the weight of responsibility and emotion. I was reminded of this while reading George MacDonald’s The Light Princess yesterday. This short fairy tale explores the balance between being playful and maintaining a connection to deeper truths and meaningful experiences in life. I loved this conversation between the queen and king: “It is a good thing to be light-hearted, I am sure, whether she be ours or not.” “It is a bad thing to be light-headed,” answered the queen, looking with prophetic soul far into the future.” The conversation continued after a bit more back and forth with, “But it is a bad thing altogether to be light-minded,” retorted the queen, who was beginning to lose her temper.” Because Princess Adela, in the fairy tale, was cursed by her aunt, Makemnoit, to have no gravity, this really got me thinking of both the metaphorical and literal meaning MacDonald had put into the story.

“It is a bad thing to be light-headed” refers to the idea that being carefree or overly whimsical can lead to a lack of seriousness or depth. In the story, the princess was incapable of taking life seriously. The princess cursed with a lack of gravity—both literally and metaphorically—experiences life in a way that makes her seem detached from reality. As I stated in the beginning, we must strike a balance between being light hearted and light headed and being grounded. Fortunately, unlike Princess Adela, we do not have to be in water to find our gravity – both physical and emotional weight.

Byron's Babbles