Lessons I Have Learned from Disney Princesses

Introduction

Since I was a little girl, I have loved the Disney princesses. I grew up watching movies like Cinderella and The Little Mermaid on my grandmother’s VHS (yes, she really did have one, and yes, I loved getting to rewind the tapes!). The princess movies have always held a special place in my heart because they were such a core part of my childhood. From nightgowns to beach towels to lunch boxes, everything I owned had to have a Disney princess on it. I loved going to Walt Disney World as a child with my family, especially the trip that my mom signed me up for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. For my princess, I picked Ariel, and I was so excited to meet her in her under the sea grotto. It was the highlight of my trip! As I have gotten older, the magic of Disney has still not faded. I believe that it is because the lessons I learned from the Disney princesses continue to show up in my life now. Today, I want to share those lessons with you in hopes that you will see how the lessons we learn as children follow us into adulthood.

“You think the only people / who are people /are people who look and / think like you”

Earlier this week, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a luncheon through WashU’s Office for Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life. It was an opportunity for interfaith student leaders to connect with interfaith partners throughout the greater St. Louis area. Before coming to WashU, I had limited opportunities to engage in interfaith dialogue. While I had an amazing experience at my Catholic high school (you can read more about that in a past blog post), the one thing that was missing was diversity, especially diversity of religion. While I had a wonderful World Religion class, it was mainly a dialogue between Christians. During my second semester at WashU, I was introduced to my close friends and Kappa Delta sorority sisters, Marissa and Alisa. They quickly became my rocks during my sophomore year because of their welcoming and warm natures. This extended to attending Shabbat dinners at WashU’s Chabad. Through these dinners, I learned so much about Judaism and the importance of interfaith conversations. Marissa and Alisa have always been so open with me about their religion, and we have had countless conversations about our faith. At the luncheon, one woman told me, “We can only achieve peace by gathering people together, not by dividing people”. I wholeheartedly agree. We are evolutionary deposed to trust those who look like us and distrust those who look different. I argue that what makes us human is fighting against our nature. This can only be accomplished by interpersonal connections. It is our job to seek these relationships out. We cannot stay in our bubbles forever; at some point, we need to keep each other close if we are ever to create positive change in this world.

“I want adventure so much more than they’ve got planned”

While I have already written an entire blog post about analysis paralysis, I do want to add something here that I did not say in that blog post. I am currently in the process of applying for summer internships and jobs. Within this process, it can be so easy to think that you are not good enough to apply for a position, which causes you to get stuck in analysis paralysis. This can lead to you not applying to the position because you cannot push past the anxiety of failure. I have started telling myself a little phrase to help me move past analysis paralysis and finish applications for summer internships: “Do not tell myself no. Let other people tell me no”. I do not know who else is applying or what they are looking for. Instead of telling myself I might not be what they are looking for, I decided to start telling myself that I might be exactly what they are looking for. I do not want to limit myself based on my self-doubts. You never know where life is going to take you. Some of my best opportunities or experiences have come from confidently saying “yes” to myself. You have to say yes to yourself because if you won’t do it, why should you expect other people to do it? Integrity is one of my core values, and I aim to live it out in every aspect of my life. This means that I have to trust myself and take a leap of faith, especially when my self-doubts and anxiety are drowning out my genuine voice. If you want big things in life, you have to learn how to make big leaps and big falls. You can only do this by moving past analysis paralysis and applying to opportunities that excite you. You never know what might come from it!

“Have courage and be kind”

Whenever I talk about my sorority sisters, I always utilize the word “kind,” and I never use the word “nice”. I place a lot of emphasis on the words that I speak and write. I probably adopted this habit from my dad, who is the best-spoken individual I have ever met. Even if we do not realize it, words have an unspoken connotation attached to them (I talked a lot about this in my New Year’s goals blog post!). While “nice” and “kind” are both positive words that describe good behavior, they have different connotations attached to them. If you are “nice” to someone, it implies that it is something impersonal, and it is done because there is a type of expectation attached to it. This does not mean that being nice is something negative because it is necessary to be nice. We are nice to restaurant wait staff or the person sitting next to you in a lecture hall. However, we are kind to our loved ones. If you are “kind” to someone, it implies that it is something personal. It is more intentional because it comes from genuine concern for that person’s wellbeing. It is not self-serving. It is something that is born from a deeply emotional connection with another person. So, when I say that my sorority sisters are kind, I mean that they love me for my authentic self and they want me to succeed in life. When I was younger, I understood the importance of being kind but I never understood why courage was also a part of this quote. Now, I believe that it takes a lot of courage to be kind. It means investing your time, talent, and treasure into other people. It is about standing up for your friends and standing alongside your family during hard times. It is about sacrifice. I think that if we move towards kindness with courage, we can foster better relationships.

“I’m a damsel. I’m in distress. I can handle this. Have a nice day”

While not an official Disney princess, Meg from Hercules will always hold a special place in my heart. My brothers and I would watch this movie all the time while we grew up (and we continue to watch it today). This paragraph is dedicated to my brother, Gabe, who told me that I had to include Meg from Hercules in this blog post! Honestly, my brothers could probably attest to my wildness growing up. One of my grandmother’s nicknames for me was “bull moose”. A bull moose is an adult male moose that has huge antlers on the top of their head. I got this nickname probably because I was a rambunctious child and the instigator of a lot of fights. Now, I am a little less rambunctious and less of an instigator (although I will still fight if anyone tries to disagree with me on something that I am passionate about!). However, my loud and independent nature has stayed the same. My parents raised me to be independent. I was in charge of my schedule. I was in charge of getting my schoolwork done and studying for tests. I was in charge of applying to colleges and having conversations with my parents about finances. As I have gotten older, I have realized that my independence was both a duty and a privilege. It was a duty because I needed to take action to fulfill my promises to other people, organizations, and myself. It was a privilege because it allowed me to be my own person and to have control over my life. I attribute my easy transition to university to my independence. My dad always says that a parent knows they have done a good job raising their children if their children do not need them anymore. I know that my parents have set me up for success, and, at the same time, it was my responsibility to take advantage of that independence. So, I wear my title of bull moose proudly because it speaks to my ability to live independently.

Conclusion

Disney was a vital part of my childhood. It has taught me so many important lessons that I continue to carry with me into adulthood. We know that the experiences we have in childhood can have a large impact on who we are into adulthood. I will always be grateful for the lessons I have learned from Disney because they have helped shape me into the person I am today.