"You're so nice...

...You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the Witch. You're the world."

I don't know what I'm going to write about. I'm just in an "Into the Woods" sort of mood. The witch in into the woods is so--well, I take that back--everyone in into the woods is so biased. The witch will do anything for beauty. The baker and his wife will do anything to have a child. The step sisters will do anything to marry the prince. Cinderella's prince will do anything to get the girl. Jack and his mother will do anything for money, even sell their beloved cow. They only see what they want to see and how to obtain what they want. Well, except the narrator. He's neutral. Of course, in the end he is sacrificed by all the others so they get what they want. It doesn't work though. The giant doesn't fall for the trick, and everyone ends up with losses anyway. "You need an objective observer to pass the story along." "But some of us don't like the way you've been telling things."

The attitude of "all for one" never works. This concept is clearly demonstrated in "Into the Woods". In the first act, all the characters have a clear goal in mind. Their own personal goal in mind. They work to achieve that goal. When they finally achieve it, as they all do, at the end of Act I, "they're so happy". However, things soon start to go awry. The witch is beautiful, but she's lost her powers. The baker and his wife have their child, Cinderella and the prince are married, but they aren't satisfied with what they have. The step sisters have been blinded. A giant is terrorizing the kingdom because of Jack's greed. These things are consequences for what they have done. The characters were wearing blinders-they didn't think about what could happen and they didn't care. All they wanted was to be happy. Now that they have achieved their goal and still aren't happy, they realize something is wrong.

Finally, Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, and the baker realize what they have lost is a direct result of their actions. They try to mend that. Now the attitude has changed from "all for one" to "one for all and all for one". They all work together, sort of like the three musketeers. They are now on track to mending what is left of their lives.

It's always hard to think of the bigger picture instead of just thinking about yourself, but it needs to be done. As soon as we can get rid of this mind set that the world revolves around us, the sooner we will reach true happiness. At least, that's what I think.

"Careful the wish you make, wishes are children. Careful the path they take - wishes come true, not free. Careful the spell you cast, not just on children. Sometimes the spell may last beyond what you can see and turn against you."