I am a huge fan of Disney. My kids grew up on Disney movies and when they’re gone I’ll watch them just for me! (Who am I kidding, right now I watch them just for me!) I totally plan to introduce my grandchildren to my favorite Disney movies.
I recently watched Moana. I love Moana! It’s one of my favorites. I relate to that movie on so many levels. I appreciate how her dad wants to keep her and his people safe and the conflict that happens when she feels drawn to the ocean and her mission to return the heart of Te Fiti. I have the song “How Far I’ll Go” on a playlist that I made about myself and my journey. I love that she learns to follow her heart and do what she knows is right even though the people around her don’t necessarily agree with it. I admire her spunk and courage setting out into the ocean even though she doesn’t even know how to sail!
There’s a part in every good movie and book where things are really dark. Where it seems as if things will never get better and the hero obviously must have misunderstood the plan. (If you also love Moana think of the part where they failed in their first attempt to put the heart back and Maui has left her alone on the boat.) I remember that shortly after I got divorced I was planning to open a daycare. I painted my house, got toys together and even put up a fence in the backyard. Me and my family put in so much effort and money into that venture. Then it didn’t work out. My plans fell through and I was left not knowing what to do. My next plan was to find a job. I looked and looked and that didn’t work out either. Finally I enrolled in school full time to finish my Bachelor’s degree with the goal of going on to earn my Master’s degree. Literally one month after starting school I got a job offer and then next thing I knew I was a single mom working and going to school full time! Thankfully that story had a happy ending, but boy there were some dark years in there!
Now I find myself striking out on a new course, a new journey. Once again I don’t know how things will work out, or if they will. I don’t know how this will go, starting a business and going into private practice. I don’t know if I will keep my current job and only work part-time, or if and when I will work for myself full-time. The main difference is that I know more now than I did then. When Maui is teaching Moana way-finding, he tells her:
“It’s seeing where you’re going in your mind. Knowing where you are by knowing where you’ve been.”
Maui from Moana
I know where I want to go. I know that I want to do this work that I love and help people in my community. I know where I’ve been and I have the benefit of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I know that when things get hard that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s doomed or not the right thing. In fact, in my life, things rarely start to get better until after they’re gotten hard. Maybe that’s the reward for sticking it out? In my experience, the good stuff is often on the other side of the…
