Its hard to go anywhere on a Saturday and not hear a little girl (or boy) singing the words “Let it go” from the theme song of Frozen. Walking through grocery aisles, enjoying pass-the-parcel at birthday parties or simply playing in the playground and humming along, Frozen’s catchy tune can easily become a song worm in your own head!
Not only is it the words that are delivered with gusto, with the performance comes plenty of power moves to accompany lyrics like “turn your back and slam the door….here I stand and here I’ll stay…the cold never bothered me anyway…”
So many lessons in the beauty of this has had me captured for months in so many ways and despite this I have wondered whether the reasons why we love the movie as adults are the same as experienced by those gorgeous little souls (equally both girls and boys my Facebook friends/mums tell me). So, to Facebook I went and asked the question…
“What is it about the song and movie Let it Go & Frozen that has captivated the hearts of so many children and adults?”
One response was that “The whole movie is about standing up for yourself and not listening to the judgement of others, it especially empowers our girls to be the person THEY want to be rather than what their parents or society wants them to be. Let it Go is about releasing yourself from that power. ‘ Not sure that a 3 or year old would get that same message but it’s clear it’s contagious.
For me there are a few simple lessons in both the message Frozen brings and the impact it has on so many – adults and children alike.
#1 What happens when we ‘grow up’
How is it that as little girls we have no fear, no shame and no care about what anyone thinks? Belting out a tune in the middle of the grocery store, playground or even walking through the streets is a given. I delight at such simple confidence and a lack of consciousness to care that someone may care or judge them for this type of behaviour. In fact, most adults smile at how beautiful it is and for some it is a bittersweet reflection that this carefree behaviour left us many years ago.
#2 Do they know what they are singing? And what does it mean for us?
In my circle, I am known for loving a power ballad! The first I knew about Let it Go was when one of my school friends was talking about the song at one of our Saturday brunches she said “KB – you will love it”’… Indeed home I went, downloaded the song, the film clip and the words and have been belting it ever since.
So many of the lyrics are relevant to many of the young women we work with in Young Professional Women Australia, some of my favourites being:
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Don’t let them in, don’t let them see be the good girl you always had to be
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Conceal don’t feel don’t let them know
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The fears that once controlled be cant get to me at all
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Up here in the cold thin air, I finally can breathe
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Standing frozen in the life I’ve chosen
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Let it go, let it in, you can’t hold it back anymore
#3 If it’s good enough for our children, it’s good enough for us
When I ask clients to reflect on their childhood and what they wanted to ‘become’ when they grew up – a beautiful world of possibility and opportunity opens up, for even just the briefest of moments. Fast-forward to the present and the contrast between that world of possibility of children is light years away from the current reality.
Powerfully, I then ask the question “If you have children, are an aunt or uncle or have young children in your life, what is your wish for their future? Is it for them to realise that life of possibility? If it’s your wish for them why are you personally worth a lesser life?”
