It is always the great debate: Should every story end with a happily ever after? Certainly not. Art is entirely subjective, and each story should have its own unique ending. But today I want to discuss why happily ever afters can be such powerful storytelling tools.

Many people associate happily ever afters (HEAs) with fairy tales (which is kind of funny as a great number of fairy tales are far closer to tragedies *points to most of Hans Christian Andersen’s works*). In doing so, the implication is that HEAs only happen to fictional princesses who can speak to woodland animals and are not based in reality. After all, life is hard and tragic; wrapping up a story in a neat bow is completely detaching from real life, and fiction is supposed to mirror realism, right?

It’s true that life is hard. Every single one of us has experienced hardships. Every single one of us will see some form of tragedy during our time on this earth. It is far too often a bleak and dark world we live in.

And that’s the very reason we need Happily Ever Afters.

Where there is darkness? There is also light. Where there is tragedy? Beauty grows from the ashes. Right near the time my great-grandmother passed away, my little sister was born. When an extremely tragic death took place in my friend group, one of our friends gave birth mere days after to the sweetest baby girl. Loss and heartache and difficulties are not all life has to offer. There is also healing and joy and wonder. Those things are just as “realistic” and have every right to be portrayed in fiction as the hard things.

I firmly believe, as storytellers, it is our duty to show that light can be found even in the darkest times. That tragedy does not mean all joy is stripped away. That the evil in the world cannot overcome the good.

Hope is an eternal, endless thing that cannot be snuffed out. And stories that remind us to never give up are the ones that stick with me the most.

If all we’re feeding each other are stories of characters trying and trying and trying only for their efforts to lead to naught, for darkness to win, then won’t we, in turn, wonder what the point of anything is? Why bother if tragedy is waiting for us at the end?

The world is full of darkness, but that is all the more reason why we must combat it with light. And what better way to keep our strength up than seeing our favorite characters push through, ever step forward even when seemingly everything is against them, and make it out victorious?

THAT is the power of happily ever afters.

It reminds us that there is hope. It teaches us that choosing good, though not easy by any means, is always, always worth it. It shows us that even amid heartache, joy lives on.

Because that’s the thing. In this fallen world, there will always be heartache. Indeed, there is no perfect happily ever after until we reach Heaven. But that does not mean we cannot continuously triumph over the evils and FIND joy. It’s a choice. And sometimes it’s an endless fight, but that is why we need stories to remind us that it’s worth pressing on, it’s worth seeking out, it’s worth making the hard choices and standing up for what’s right.

I am not averse to dark things in fiction. In fact, I want fiction to portray the dark, hard things in life. I want to see characters struggle. I want to see the odds stacked against them.

Because, then, the fact that they did not give up, that they overcame, is all that much more powerful.

To me, that is a happily ever after: stories of overcoming.

I think so many people see happily ever afters as fluffy, unrealistic, and too easy. But letting evil win? That is the easy way out. Constantly clinging to the light when darkness batters from every side? Standing to your beliefs when the world scoffs? Holding on to hope when it seems all is lost? Those are the hard things in life. But they are also the keys to a true happily ever after.

Overcoming.

We live in a world wrought in tragedy. Negativity batters us every single day. Finding beauty and joy becomes harder and harder. But that is the very reason why we need stories to inspire us to not give up.

Happily ever afters are not unrealistic fairy tales. They’re gritty and exhausting. They’re hard and grueling. They’re fighting against what feels like common sense. They’re standing back up when you feel as though you have no energy left to give.

And they are coming out on the other side triumphant.

We need darkness and light in stories because it is more often than not that through the hard things we are able to grab hold of that inexplicable joy.

Happily ever afters are real and powerful and beautiful. And we need them. Let’s not shy away from them in the name of “realism”. Let’s show that joy is just as alive and realistic as hardships. Let’s reveal that in the darkest times, the light shines the brightest. Let’s offer hope to a world that needs it the most.

Happily ever afters is one of the most powerful tools in your possession, storytellers. May we never be ashamed to utilize it.

What are your thoughts, friends? Do you believe in the power of happily ever afters? What sort of stories do you prefer to read and/or tell?