My UnFrozen Moment (aka Letting It Go)

By On The Cusp

As a mother of an adolescent girl, I believe I was the last mother in all of America to have watched Disney’s Frozen.  Released in 2013, the film was a runaway success, netting $1.3 billion at the box office.  I wasn’t opposed to going to see it, but my daughter went with friends and I simply went on with life.  I heard the moans of other moms whose kids had the DVDs and watched it over.  And over.  And over. 

Then one snowy afternoon this past winter, I snuggled on the coach with my daughter to watch what I could only imagine would be a pleasant but forgettable movie.

For those of you who have perhaps been on another planet uninhabited by young girls, Frozen is about a fearless princess who sets off on an epic journey to find her estranged sister, who has quite unintentionally used her icy power to entrap her kingdom in eternal winter.   Somewhat like the Winter of 2015 in Boston.

The theme song for this, of course, is Let it go.  It’s done quite well in the movie, and even better for the masses by Idina Menzel.  And I admit that I really like the tune.

But I love the words.

Let It Go.

The power, the freedom, the possibilities from those seven letters.  What woman can’t take that to heart?

Letting go is hard.  As women, most of us were raised with the idea that we could and should have it all.  The house should be clean at all times and filled with happy and polite over-achieving kids.  We can easily manage that mega-work project, and of course we are delighted to be asked to take on that extra assignment.  Of course it will get done by Monday morning!  Serving on the PTO Board?  No problem!  Holding a sign and knocking on doors for signatures for a cause or candidate we like?  Yes, yes, yes!  The garden will be weed-free, the shirts will be neatly pressed, and we are always cheerful and in control.  

But now, I’ve had my unFrozen moment.  And I’m starting to Let it Go.  My co-worker and I sing it at work, when our management team does something spectacularly incomprehensible.  My best friend and I sing it when discussing the ‘he did what?’ husband moments.  I sing it at home while pawing through the cabinets looking for that dish that ended up in the most unexpected place.  I belt it out to the rude driver who has cut me off.  And I hum it to myself while standing in the line that doesn’t move.  Let it go.  It may matter in the moment, but it doesn’t matter in the end.

Letting it go.  Who’s with me?