It'll Be Hard to Say Goodbye

If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart - I'll stay there forever.

~ Winnie the Pooh

What would be the end of another great school year without a bit of commentary on the whole situation?

I don't think I can really say that I've discovered something about myself, because I seem to "discover" this every year - so it's more of a rediscovery... 

But I'm really bad at goodbyes.

I wish I could say this is simply because I haven't had enough of them in my life, but I feel like I've had my share of them. I just don't like the end of things. I'm a beginnings kind of girl. 

I love starting a new book. I love spring. I love the beginning of a new school year. I love meeting new people. I love starting new adventures. And I love the first bite of a delicious meal!

So endings, although easier for me now than when I was little, are still not my favorite.
But here's the thing to remember about goodbyes:

If it's bringing a tear now, it probably brought a smile before.

And really, that's what you're after.

Life isn't about trying to find the path with no pain. It's about finding the path that's worth the pain.

If the goodbye is hard now, that's because the journey has been worth it. That person has made you smile. That place has been a home.

You want to find those things in life that are difficult to let go. Those are the things that stay with you.

There are many people this past year that have impacted my life - big and small. And quite a few of them I have to say goodbye to now. And it kind of sucks. 

But you know what? 

I'd rather it suck because it's been amazing than have it be easy because I didn't care.

Here's to a year that's been so amazing, it'll be hard to say goodbye.

Savages

Do you remember watching Pocahontas as a kid?

(or an adult - I'm obviously the last person that would judge you for that)

Do you remember the part where everything has gone wrong? Kocoum has just been shot. Both sides are angry and bloodthirsty. 

Do you remember the song they sing as they prepare for battle?

Do you remember how ridiculous it sounds?

They're vermin.

They're savages.

They're only good when dead.

They're not like you and me, which means they must be evil.

The paleface is a demon.

I wonder if they even bleed.

Barely even human.

They're different from us, which means they can't be trusted.

Demons.

Devils.

They're just a bunch of filthy, stinky SAVAGES.

And while you're listening to it you think, "How can someone really think like that? (And let's keep in mind that it's BOTH sides that are acting this way!) How can they be so close minded? How can they be so blind..."

But then.... 

They're weird.

It's unnatural.

They're obviously a terrorist.

They're the spawn of Satan.

They're different.

To be completely honest, I'm not even comfortable putting up most of the words that would help make this point.

I like to think when watching Pocahontas that it's just a cute little Disney story (which, to some extent, it is). But then I have to wonder... how much of it is actually a mirror to even today's society?

We think we're so civilized. We think this is just something that happened in the past. 

I'm not saying the world is a terrible place. And I think tolerance for someone different than you is more prevalent today than it has been in the past. 

I'm also not saying that there aren't bad people out there. Or even people that do things that I personally don't agree with. 

I'm saying that being different is not a crime.

If you spend your whole life thinking that the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you - you're going to spend your life 1) very lonely and 2) very cynical/angry. 

Neither of which is fun.

Isn't it funny how once you get to really know someone, they really don't seem that different. 

Everyone laughs in the same language and everyone bleeds the same color.

But you do have to get through the differences first to find the similarities.

They're just...

Different.

A Jack of Many Trades

You guys - this comes out next week.

And it's going to be awesome!

Lesson learned from Disney:

Not only CAN you have a bad a** side (really, any of the Marvel movies)  as well as a cute side (think probably Disney princess movies)...

But you SHOULD.

Let's not be one dimensional here. 

Disney sure isn't.

What's Your Story?

Getting a "fairytale" story does NOT mean that "happily ever after" just comes to you.

Spoiler alert: It means you're probably going to have to work your butt off.

And you're going to have times where you it doesn't seem like you're going to get it.

But guess what.

It can happen.

If you want it - it can happen.

Now, let's note that the key word here is CAN. You are going to have to want it. And you're going to have to work for those things that make up your "fairytale." 

There are two big questions you have to ask yourself.

The first is What do you want?

But the second?

The second is How MUCH do you want it?

The choice is your's really.

What's your story going to be?

Short term memory loss...?

You know those Dory moments?

When you KNOW that you were supposed to remember something important and now you can't think what it is?

Yeah... I had an incredibly intelligent, witty and deep post that I was pretty excited to write about today...

And then I left that thought alone thinking

that it would come back later when I had time

to write...

Silly, silly me...

It probably would have changed the world too.

Cause that's usually how it works. 

Anyway - moral of the story:

Don't simply trust yourself to remember the important stuff. Our heads are full of a lot of stuff. We should give them all the help that we can. Give yourself some awesome reminders.

Over at our place, we're sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So in planning a new picture, we don't think of grown-ups, and we don't think of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us that maybe the world has made us forget and that maybe our pictures can help recall.

~Walt Disney

Let's Make a Deal

Have you ever been around someone that likes to make waves? 

At first you're thinking they may just be an unlucky person (because those people also exist) but then you start to realize that THEY seem to be the one causing the drama all the time...

To be fair, I've only met maybe a couple of people in my entire life that fit this description. I tend to get along pretty well with any type of person, so it takes a lot for me to find someone overboard. I don't believe that this kind of personality is the norm and I don't even believe that all the people with this personality do it on purpose.

BUT

Sometimes they are there.

But even more importantly - we can turn into that person for a short time.

It happens a lot more than we think. And (hopefully) a lot more often than any of us mean it to.

And I include myself in this analysis. For sure. I'm not really the most dramatic person outwardly. Again - I'm rather easy going so it takes quite a bit to get me riled up. But I think I create a lot of drama in my inside brain when there's really no reason to do such a thing. And, especially in that kind of circumstance, it just makes my life dramatic and stressful without changing anything.

Have you ever noticed that Sleeping Beauty happens because Maleficent doesn't get invited to the party? Like, seriously. She enters the party (uninvited), tells them she feels sad for not getting an invitation, and then SHOWS them how upset she is by cursing an innocent few-weeks-old baby. 

All because she wasn't invited to the party.

Is it sad that she felt left out?

  Yes.

 Do I feel sad when I get let out of stuff?

Of course.  

But there's a line people! And it's never fun for anyone when that line gets crossed. 

So, moral of the story?

Well, obviously, be nice to people.

SECOND moral of the story?

Don't create drama where there is none. 

There's enough drama in the world without us creating unnecessary amounts. 

Don't be part of the problem - deal?

Deal.

Pie crust promises

So, because of my limited knowledge with Mary Poppins, I just stumbled across this quote from the movie and it still feels completely new and exciting to me, so I thought I'd share:

"That's a pie crust promise. Easily made. Easily broken."

Basically - don't make promises you won't keep. Or that you may not be able to keep, no matter how much you want to.

This is a fantastic lesson on trust. Trust is a HUGE deal - and it's not always treated that way. 

So be the person to break that cycle. Be the person that others can trust. 

Be the person that says what they mean and means what they say.

Can you image how that would change your life?

Can you image how it could change the world?

Like a Boss

Ok, this is just fun. 

1st Life lesson: Disney is cool.  

2nd Life Lesson: It is totally fine to refer to inside jokes anytime in your life. It's the spice of life:)

Click Here to See it Done by Professionals

Happy Saturday:D

Lessons from the Mermaid

Here we go again with Disney princess movies..

10 life lessons I've learned from The Little Mermaid:

1. DO NOT SELL YOUR BODY TO GET A GUY (although apparently that works)
2. DO NOT TRUST A LADY THAT LOOKS LIKE SHE'S BEEN ON ICE FOR MOST OF HER LIFE
3. If someone produces a contract for you to sign out of thin air (or, in this case, water) it's probably in THEIR favor more than your's... you should probably read the fine print.
4. Why use a hairbrush when you have a fork?
5. Love doesn't always need words to bloom.
6. However, guys apparently go for the girl that can sing - so you best get on that.
7. If you have a perfect chance for a perfect kiss (and the feeling is mutual) - take it. Waiting while staring into each others' eyes for 5 minutes is just asking for your boat to be tipped over.
8. Learn to love where you are without being afraid to learn of new places.
9. Parents aren't always perfect, or even handle stressful situations in the best way. But, when it really comes down to it - they really love you.
10. Talk to your parents about your problems/dreams and PARENTS: learn to listen to your kids when they do that. Can you imagine how much drama could have been spared if Ariel had just talked to her dad, he had listened, and then turned her human (WITH HER VOICE IN TACT) himself? Drama, drama, drama...

Happy Friday:D

Kissing is a Funny Thing

Kissing is a funny thing. 

Depending on people involved, feelings involved between said people, environment, etc. it can be anywhere from A Whole New World adorable to Kiss the Girl disastrous...

In my personal opinion, Beauty and the Beast has one of the most romantic kisses - but, of course, we all know I'm biased. (Followed closely by Lady and the Tramp)

However, it's actually not my favorite. 

My favorite is this one:

 

Just because I love the look on his face when Jane first throws herself at him. And I love that she just goes for it. And I love that he decides that he likes it so he kisses her too. And I love that in real life, this probably would have been slightly awkward. Really, it's just great all around!

My lesson I've taken away from this wasn't one that I learned as a kid. Obviously it took till like high school age before this even applied to me. But it's a great lesson.

Sometimes the best moments aren't the most "romantic." 

The best moments depend on a lot more than what the world would consider "romantic." So don't get too caught up on that aspect. Get caught up in the moments that stick with you for way better reasons than candles, roses or even swirling magical leaves.

If the moment is one you share with one that you really care about - that's really all you need.

Cat Fights

"Girls do not start fights, but they can finish them."

Hopefully you know where this is from... if not, I'll give you a hint: there's a mouse chasing cats at some point during the show. And a man is convinced to sober up.

This is such a great line. Just a little bit on the sassy side - but really, who can argue with this??

Boys, your take away from this:

Don't mess with girls. And don't fall for the sweet face - EVERY girl has claws. With some of us it takes more for them to really come out. But be warned - they ARE there. And if you push the right button (or even just push the wrong button enough times) they will come out. 

And we like things neat, so we'll make sure to finish the job. 

And Disney tried to teach children this and a pretty early age. 

Smart man. 

He must have been married.

I Vent for a Bit

So, lately I've seen a few photo challenges on Facebook in regards to Disney that ask you to pick your favorite princess or song or kiss, etc.

I've learned something about myself in looking at these (and trying to mentally do them).

Minus my favorite Disney movie (see this here blog post for more details) - I'm really bad at picking favorites. 

Like, pretty bad. 

And then that got me thinking (cause that's what I do at midnight)...

Why does humanity have this thing with favorites??

Why do we insist that someone pick one instead of being able to say, "Well, I really like these oneS..." Why does there have to only be one? Really, it's silly.

Picking favorites is hard. And really, if you think about it, that's a good thing. That means there's a lot of good to be had.

And that shouldn't be something that we try to squander as a society.

Eight in One

This was just great, so I thought I'd share. 

Pay special attention to the Winnie the Pooh one. Everyone needs to start believing in that one especially. Because, as much as it's sometimes hard to see when looking at yourself - you're a fantastic human being.

5 Lessons from Snow White

So, we have yet to talk about Snow White! Which, is like the ultimate Disney classic! 

(Even though she has a pretty obnoxious singing voice and the villain is totally one-dimensional)

Life lessons I feel like I've learned from Snow White:

1. Taking nutritious fruit from strangers is just as harmful as taking candy from strangers. 
2. If a guy starts singing along with your random song - he's a keeper.
3. If there are 7 men and 1 woman living in a house together - she's got 8 people to take care of.
4. Whistling is the language of every forest animal.
5. Balance is everything - we need all 7 dwarfs (Doc, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, Dopey, and yes, even Grumpy) to make everything fit together. So, it's okay to be grumpy every once in a while. Just make sure your happy side comes out too.

Much Needed Pep Talk to Humanity

Everyone gets a little discouraged every now and then.

It happens. It's actually totally natural. And it's okay.

However, there are some great words of wisdom from Disney's The Princess and the Frog. Tiana, the main character, is trying to make her dream of owning a restaurant a reality. And she's had to save every penny she's ever made to try and get it. It's beginning to look like she's going to make it and this is what she sings to Oprah (her mom).

There's been trials and tribulations
You know I've had my share
But I've climbed the mountain, I've crossed the river
And I'm almost there

Now, anyone that's seen the movie also knows that about ten minutes later in the movie she finds out that she's been outbid for the building and it looks like her dream is about to die right on the spot...

Spoiler Alert: She gets the restaurant in the end.

BUT she has to go through everything that makes up the rest of the movie before she can. And if you've ever seen the movie - it's actually quite a bit. She has to meet and get along with people that she doesn't particularly like at the beginning. She has to kiss a slimy amphibian. She ends up eating a bug. And she has to come to terms with the idea of never getting her dream restaurant.

The point of all of this is that sometimes life is crap. And sometimes things don't go according to plan. But I heard a quote one time from Thomas Edison that said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." 

Maybe you're ALMOST there. Don't give up.

Maybe you've still got a ways to go. But you're closer to (insert whatever you want here) than you were yesterday or even an hour ago. Don't give up.

Life is full of ups and downs. And sometimes the downs are more abundant than the ups. You might think you're the only one. But I PROMISE YOU - you're not. Everyone has to deal with different problems, but we're all in the same boat. You may be almost there. And even if you're not - you're closer than you were when you started reading this.

Don't you dare give up.

Epilogue...

Okay, all I can say is that this is the most fantastic thing ever.

Life Lesson:

The story always goes on after "happily ever after..."

 Watch and Enjoy.

And probably subscribe cause this guy is just awesome.

Disney Sequels...

Let's discuss the elephant in the room with this blog - shall we?

Disney Sequels

This is going to be one of those posts where I admit that Disney has taught me some "what not to do's" as well as the "what to do's."

There's a few good Disney sequels out there. Some of my personal favorites are Return of Jafar, King of Thieves, and Lion King 1 1/2. Lion King 2 and Little Mermaid 2 weren't awful... And if we're counting Pixar then Toy Story 3 is pretty well done. 

The thing about sequels is - the movie industry seems to think that if the first one went well then OBVIOUSLY a second one can only make things BETTER. 

They're wrong. 

And there are so many horribly awful sequels out there to prove it. 

 (If you've never seen Mulan 2 - let me warn you now....DON'T SEE IT!!!)

Sometimes, you just need to leave well enough alone. Sometimes trying to go back and redo the amazing takes away some of what was special in the first place. Disney sequels (even though I don't believe that all of them are bad) have taught me that going out and finding a NEW adventure, a new story, is a big part of the success. Yes, something may have been awesome. And you should think about awesome moments in your life often - they help get us through the rough patches. 

But don't get stuck there. Go out and do something new. Be creative instead of just redoing and rehashing all the old stuff. 

Because it's rarely as good the second time around.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE!

Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

 That depends a good deal on  where you want to go.

 I don't care much where -

 Then it doesn't matter which way you go.

So, here we are again at Alice and Wonderland. Which is interesting because it's really not one of my favorites, but man, it's got some good life lessons in it. 

This is a pretty famous one, so hopefully this is mostly just a reminder to all you lovely people out there. Because I'm in college and it's starting to get toward the end of the school year (and because a majority of my friends in my department are seniors) there's been a lot of "future" talk. 

What are you doing this summer?

What are you doing with your life??

Why aren't you married yet???

You get the gist. 

If you don't care where you're going, then it doesn't matter if you major in music or engineering. I'm a big planner. So I have a pretty good idea where I want to go in life. So, to me, I would say - know where you want to go. You don't have to know what exactly you're doing tomorrow or even this summer or next year. But as long as you know where you want to go then that's what's important. 

There's another part to this quote...

 - so long as I go somewhere.

 Oh, you're sure to do that, so long as you walk long enough.

Guess what. You want to go somewhere - that's bound to happen. Don't give up. Just keep walking (just keep swimming, just keep swimming...) and you'll get somewhere. It's up to you where.

 

Mickey makes me feel better about internships

Guess what you guys??!

This post is going to be a life lesson I'm learning RIGHT NOW. 

Cause college is just crazy.

So, basically, I'm trying to get an internship for the summer - because that's what responsible people do with their lives (and I'm not crazy about the idea of going back to my old summer job). Unfortunately, I have yet to tack one down. This would probably not be so frustrating if I hadn't been trying to be really on top of this. I started the process of applying for internships back in January and it's now close to the middle of April. So, that part of my life has been rather stressful and not so happy the past little bit. And then of course, because I'm me, this makes me worry about my life and if my career pathway is ever going to work out, etc, etc.

And then Walt Disney spoke words of wisdom to me.

(through a computer)

I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.

Simple, right?

Well, it's definitely something I needed to hear. Or read...

Life is crazy. And scary. And not at all as predictable as we like to think it is. But something like DISNEY all started with a mouse. If Mickey can do 

this

and this

 

all starting from this

 

 

then, odds are, I'm going to be just fine.

Expect the unexpected!

Honestly, sometimes things just don't go according to plan. 

And Disney knows pretty well how to make that happen.

For instance - 

Or - 

 

Or - 

Or - 

 

Or even - 

Moral of the story?

Expect things to not always go the way that you think or hope that they will. It's okay. It's not the end of the world. And odds are, you're going to laugh about it one day - if you aren't laughing about it yet. Sometimes the romantic moment is ruined. Sometimes the party crashers show up. And sometimes the person off-key sings the loudest. It's okay, just go with it:)

"There's nothing funnier than the human animal."

~Walt Disney