There was nowhere to look for me as a child

No lessons for me to hold to for safety

And so I clung to the bad things like drink

Skulking in shadows well out of sight

But now in my thirties I’m scrabbling for traction

And I’ve found that the movies I watched as a child

Hold the key to a world that I struggled to know

Teaching me basics that help me along

Through the darkness that chained me

To the old life I knew…..

I’m finding, more and more, that I have no fucking clue how to operate in this world. I watch some people interact with others and I’m in awe. I really don’t know how they navigate their way through so effortlessly.

I’ve come to the conclusion that these people have had good role models during their childhood, because they must have learnt their skills from someone.

So, how do those of us who had slightly quirky mothers learn what to do? For me, I thought that the best option was to drink away the pain and the shame and so I remained under an alcoholic fog for a decade of my life.

But since this fog has lifted I have realised that I still have no idea how to get through life like a normal human. This last year has been the first that I have really stood on my own two feet and it has been life changing.

However, some of the more interpersonal issues have been harder to overcome and I have found myself turning to Disney movies to help me out. There are so many Disney quotes out there that are beautiful and encouraging and if more of us could live by them then the world would be a much nicer place. There is a reason that Disneyworld is the most magical place in the world.

Just after I got sober I watched Cinderella and there was a part in the movie where Ella’s mother tells her the secret to life. She leans in and pauses and I remember holding my breath in anticipation.

She told her that the secret is to have courage and be kind. At the time I was kind of disappointed in this advice but as the movie panned out I realised that courage and kindness were the only things that Ella needed to get her prince. She may have had a bumpy journey getting there, but in the end she was the winner.

So one thing Disney taught me that I always try to live by is to always have courage and be kind….where there is kindness there is goodness, and where there is goodness there is magic.

Much Love

Rachel xx