Three Little Pigs

The wall has returned:
 
I identify with the struggles of the fairy tale the Three Little Pigs. My identity has three components: the larger than life pig: powerful, strong, overbearing, outgoing, and a fighter, the ideal pig: playful, kindhearted, caring, and loveable, the runt: week, meek, sulky, selfish, reserved, and fragile. I tend to harbor this trait and find that the ideal piggy is hard to display at times. To embrace life and all it has to offer is very suitable for the ideal pig but, she must have the help of her companions: Larger than life, and runt. If she does not have them she cannot appreciate accomplishments, friendships, and heartaches that come with the journey. Life would be to mundane and predictable if she was to not acknowledge them as a key component to her well being. It is the balance of knowing when to let them in and how to use each one wisely. This only is mastered over time and sometimes never quit achieved. In the end we must look within and ask have we reached the balance and are we happy with the outcome?
The Big Bad Wolf what a marvelous animal he is. He is cunning, and manipulative. He has many identities: he disguises himself to what is best suited for the situation. Primitive in nature, simple and so complex it is very affective. It is the hunger within which drives him to seek what he wants, what a glorious thing to know what you want out of life. He is at the top of the food chain and thus, on top of the world. He devours those who threaten his existence. He will find any means to gain what he so desires. It is this enhanced beauty, the thirst to be Alpha in a world so vast which makes him so powerful and appealing. You could say he is society or those we interact with that influence us.
As the pigs work together enjoying life, they build upon what they feel and know. They feel at peace enjoying the pleasures of what life has to offer them. The principle of wanting to build a future from elementary ideals: love, hope, honesty, and trust.
The first home they build is made out of straw. It is a resource that seems suitable to shelter their body when the days are hot and the nights are cold. They are fledgling overlooking that it is not only a place of refuge but should be a place to protect themselves from the dangers of the outside world. They disregard this substantial logic because they cannot comprehend that others posses malice. It is this ignorance that soon threatens their emotional and physical well being. A cruel lesson to learn but, we all must learn.
The wolf eradicates their home. He smells the sweet innocence of vulnerability an easy meal. The piggy’s run fast, afraid, and terrified by the wild beast. They use the knowledge they know to build, once again, another home. One made of wood. Life goes on. They find that the anxiety of fear is disappearing. They venture outside and interact with others but still in the back of their minds they are cautious and leery.
Winter has come and the sky is bleak. The once abundant vegetation has disappeared by the blanket of snow. Some of the animals are prepared for the long harsh winter. Their coats shinny and think to keep them warm and some hibernate until spring arrives once again. The piggies are warm in their little home made of wood. They feel that they are safe from the cold. With this cold they do not venture outside for they do not have the appropriate attire to keep them warm. The wolf roams the land, hungry, and cold. All the white snow is blinding him and driving him mad. He spies the wood house and smells the scent of smoked ham, what a lovely meal to partake he thinks. His mouth salivating he creeps to ambush the house, destroying it into little slivers of wood, the pigs scrabble to escape with their lives. He would have gotten them if there was only one. If only.
A new home made of brick will sure to make it impossible for the cunning wolf to destroy. It is strong like stone and cold like the heart of the wolf. The pigs still find themselves hurt and battered. The scares are still fresh and the pain is unbearable. They will resort to time, time will heal all wounds. The walls are grand and sturdy. There are no windows and the door is very small. They will not answer the door anymore. They do not venture outside and frolic. They keep to themselves sheltering themselves from the outside. Paranoid others will also attack their very existence. Years pass and they imagine the world outside to be dangerous and not what they once imagined. The wolf has disguises himself as a sheep, and a sweet little old granny to manipulate others to violate. Sometimes the piggies hear the cry of a little boy outside. They hear him cry wolf. They turn a blind eye and feel no empathy for they do not trust these cries. They too have cried but, when they wept it was true, the Big Bad Wolf was there to attack and there was no one to help them in their need.
The twist to the story is that the walls may be strong and protect them from others but, it has become their prison. They no longer know who they are. They no longer work together and find peace. The fear that is within makes them doubt each other and the purpose of life. The meaning has been boxed in by the walls they cannot see through. So dark and lonely, because they truly are not three little pigs but one: Me.