Today we will look at a completely different aspect of psychology, or psychotherapy. To write this article I was very much inspired by Walt Disney, to precisely speaking by Disney’s Tales… Are you curious yet? I hope you are but let me start from the beginning….
Childhood Tales
When I was a child, I loved Disney Tales. For me, those tales were so different, so magical! They brought me to the places where I wanted to stay, where I felt really special, safe, and where my imagination ran 100 km/h… I just loved every minute of it. My favorite Disney Tale was of course the classic one… Cinderella. I guess, what I loved the most about her was her magic within her. Her strength to never give up. But I also fell in love with her blue sparkly dress… even now the thought of it, when I am writing this article, I feel inside me excitement, warmth, and sympathy.
During this time of the year, I dedicated this time hugely to my family. It’s not very often when the four of us have time off together. So, one of the things that we did was watching Disney Tales. During those movies I cried, I laughed, I felt scared, annoyed, relieved, I was excited. Oh my God, so many different emotions! But all of them were so real and authentic, but yet they brought me back to my childhood, to the places I nearly forgot about. During the movies, I had so many (what psychotherapists call) “THE AHA MOMENTS”.
Hidden Messages
What was the most amazing thing for me was the messages that those tales are telling, so indirectly! The message, it’s obviously there, but it’s up to you how will you interpret them and what will you take from them for yourself. That’s the whole beauty of it, each of us will interpret the same tales individually and differently. I think that’s amazing! Simply because we can get from each tale what exactly we need. We can meet our emotional needs through the hidden message.
For example, a princess loses her father in the tale, as we are watching her pain of loss, it can simply trigger something in us. Not necessarily the loss of a person, but it could be a loss of ourselves or loss of our dreams, or expectations.
Disney Tales
Let me give you a few examples of my interpretations of the messages from Disney Tales. You can have your own, it doesn’t mean you need to agree with it!
Cinderella
To have courage and kindness. To never give up, no matter how helpless the situation seems. There is always a solution that we might not see yet. If you believe in magic, magic will start to happen. Our true desire and faith have huge power.
Beauty and the Beast
What looks ugly to us from the outside, might not be the same inside. If we won’t give it a chance, we might never know the truth. Love has huge power, can melt, and change even the most horrible monster. We fear the unknown, so rather than be open-minded and get to know it, we prefer to destroy it because it’s easier. We need to learn how to think for ourselves.
Frozen
Love is a powerful thing, it can survive anything. Loyalty and faith in the other person can help them survive the most difficult situations and it can help them find a way back home. Grief is like nothing else that we experience. Once we are there it’s so hard to get up again. But we need to take it to step by step, that’s what’s counts. We need to find a voice inside us, a tinny light, and follow it.
Inside out
None of the emotions can be dismissed. All of them are there and of equal importance. We need to learn how to accept all of the emotions (the easy ones and the less comfortable ones). When we will prevent ourselves from feelings- that is the most dangerous place we can be. Good things often blossom from the sad moments. We are so afraid to be sad, but really sadness can be a healing emotion.
Soul
We have no idea how to live. Although, we are so busy trying to find the purpose. And we are so busy trying to have a meaningful life, that we completely dismissing what is right in front of us. We are missing the things that really matter. The little things that are so easy to enjoy. We are trying so hard to get somewhere that we are forgetting to live. We are taking our lives for granted. But when we realize that our life has an expiry date, we are playing surprised. Then we feel regrets and we are finding it hard to let go.
Inner Child in your Adult body
I believe Tales have huge power. They can bring us back to our childhood without us even realizing it. Such powerful tales like Disney’s Tales can open doors inside us that were long closed. But most importantly, if you open your heart, they can help you process the most difficult, the darkest aspects of your life, no matter if it was in your childhood or adulthood. The message and its strength stay the same.
And why is that? It’s because even though you are an adult, you once were a child. A young human being with THE SAME feelings, and emotions. You were only learning the world; you were getting to know the whole system and yourself. In childhood, we are creating the most significant core beliefs, but yet we are so dependent on other people. Who you are today, your thinking, beliefs, and behavior, is a set of past experiences. So, as a child is pretty much alive. In psychotherapy, we call it your Inner Child. Inner Child will always be alive in us. Believe it or not, it’s there. Therefore, it’s so important for us to heal our Inner Child. And I think tales and a great way of opening ourselves to do that. Tales can help us open our hearts.
Stay Focused in your busyness
However, we are so busy being adults! We are so busy with everyday life. Because we keep rushing, we live under constant pressure and stress that we completely dismiss our feelings, needs, and desires. Just because you don’t pay attention to them, doesn’t mean they are not existing. Remember your body and mind needs to live in harmony and need to have a balance. If you won’t make time for it, either your mind or your body will send you a big enough message that you will be no more able to dismiss it. And that is usually anxiety, panic attacks, negative thoughts that seem to be unstoppable, sometimes depression and self-harm… you deserve better!
So, switch off the news, (nothing significant is there anyway) and watch your favorite Tales from your childhood. In the end ask yourself if what you saw, and felt as a child is the same or has its meaning changed? Start noticing the little things. Become alive again. Start living the life you have!
With love and best wishes,
