While listening to my daughters (24 and 9) talk about who their favorite Disney heroine is, it occurred to me that we women posses qualities from each of these Disney characters.
Take Jasmine:
She calls all the shots in her relationship. Aladdin falls for her right away, but she makes him work for it. You wanna ride the magic carpet with her? You're gonna have to prove yourself first.
You've got the traditional Cinderella:
She worked her butt off for her home and waited patiently for her prince to show up and rescue her. She was the 50's woman, vacuuming in heels, and provided Charming stayed faithful, she earned her fairy tale ending.
What about Mulan?
This girl's all boy. She doesn't want to serve the soldiers, she wants to be a soldier. She's got a lot of fight in her and she's got a mission impossible, but somewhere under those weapons and shields is a girl who loves a boy and she wants to reveal her heart to him.
Arielle the mermaid:
Probably my favorite. She felt stymied in her life and was held firmly in place by her father's thumb. But with a huge gamble, she swam her heart out to reach a new life. She got that life, she also got her man and it was her voice that set her apart in his eyes. Romance trumps all with this girl.
And who doesn't love Belle?:
The thinking girls girl. She always had her nose in a book and when a handsome brute tried to capture her heart, he fell miserably short. She was looking for something more and like many of us... she was looking for a man to save. She may have been co-dependant, but he'd still be an animal (and not the good kind) if it weren't for her.
I like to think of myself as a girl who wouldn't fall for a man just because of his looks, and I like to think of myself as a reader/thinker, and also the 50's wife, but one who would fight a battle for the things that matter most... and of course I love to sing and swim although my tail's retired for the moment. I didn't even mention Tinker Bell and her jealous heart... I definitely have that going on at times. Yeah, I enjoy men and all their characteristics, but women are a special breed... we're interesting and with all our similarities, we're still unique. All beautiful in our own way. I like the thought that there's someone for everyone.
The Bible has some fascinating stories of women too. Soldiers, prostitutes, queens and daughters. I see myself in all those women too. It's a gift to be a woman and I want to start appreciating it. Who cares if the world tells us we're all supposed to be carbon copies? They're wrong. We're beautiful, just the way we are and it's time we celebrated the people we are, inside and out.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
All in!
In church yesterday, two different people spoke about not losing your wonder... your amazement at God. One man asked us to recall what we loved and marveled at as children. Immediately I had a vision of the ocean... when the sun shines on it and the billions of diamonds sparkling on the waters surface. I could be mesmerized by that for hours. Even when laying on the diving board in our back yard, I was affected the same way as those light diamonds danced on our pools surface.
I realized how much Ive been thinking about the ocean these past few years. The funny thing is, I thought it was a new interest.... thinking Id like to live on the ocean, and how beautiful a wedding on the beach would be at night. But in church yesterday, I put two and two together. I have always loved the ocean... loved water in general actually. When I was a young teen, my friends would lie on the sand of our local lake in Connecticut where all the boys were, and where the sun could tan their white skin, but I was always swimming. I couldn't stay out of the water.
I just always felt better around the water... and a waterfall... well that is like the chocolate of all water. The air around oceans, forests and waterfalls are full of negative ions which are supposed to boost serotonin, causing our moods to improve. So it's not just my imagination, science and nature back me up on this... water just makes us feels good.
In the midst of the trials Ive been dealing with for the past several hurtful years, what should I do with this realization? "I love the ocean, I want to be near the ocean, the ocean makes me feel better?" I'm not sure... at least, I'm not sure how to get there or stay there... yet. I do think
it's interesting that something so welcoming and beautiful is full of so many uncertainties. Tsunamis, jelly fish, rip tides, and the ever terrifying shark. Funny, my greatest enjoyment and my biggest fear all in one place.
It's kind of like life if you think about it. You could jump in and live life to it's fullest, fears be damned. Or you could sit on the edge, enjoying the sun and the boys, but never feeling the water on your skin... never feel the rush of the giant waves crash against you as you struggle to keep your head above water, never fight the tide and win. Id like to jump in, but I'm fearful... and the thing is, I don't think I fear the things in the water as much as I fear leaving the safety of the shore. I can't seem to figure out whether I'm supposed to put my floaties on, or build a shelter on the shore. Maybe it's time to swim.
I realized how much Ive been thinking about the ocean these past few years. The funny thing is, I thought it was a new interest.... thinking Id like to live on the ocean, and how beautiful a wedding on the beach would be at night. But in church yesterday, I put two and two together. I have always loved the ocean... loved water in general actually. When I was a young teen, my friends would lie on the sand of our local lake in Connecticut where all the boys were, and where the sun could tan their white skin, but I was always swimming. I couldn't stay out of the water.
I just always felt better around the water... and a waterfall... well that is like the chocolate of all water. The air around oceans, forests and waterfalls are full of negative ions which are supposed to boost serotonin, causing our moods to improve. So it's not just my imagination, science and nature back me up on this... water just makes us feels good.
In the midst of the trials Ive been dealing with for the past several hurtful years, what should I do with this realization? "I love the ocean, I want to be near the ocean, the ocean makes me feel better?" I'm not sure... at least, I'm not sure how to get there or stay there... yet. I do think
it's interesting that something so welcoming and beautiful is full of so many uncertainties. Tsunamis, jelly fish, rip tides, and the ever terrifying shark. Funny, my greatest enjoyment and my biggest fear all in one place.
It's kind of like life if you think about it. You could jump in and live life to it's fullest, fears be damned. Or you could sit on the edge, enjoying the sun and the boys, but never feeling the water on your skin... never feel the rush of the giant waves crash against you as you struggle to keep your head above water, never fight the tide and win. Id like to jump in, but I'm fearful... and the thing is, I don't think I fear the things in the water as much as I fear leaving the safety of the shore. I can't seem to figure out whether I'm supposed to put my floaties on, or build a shelter on the shore. Maybe it's time to swim.
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