I. Love. Disney.

In fact, I am convinced that I am a princess and I’m just waiting for someone to show me where my castle is and put a crown on my head.

At this point, either you think I’m weird or you think I’m kidding. I will not deny being weird, but I’m not really kidding. I always liked Disney as a kid, but in the past couple years, I definitely like it more now than I ever did then. Maybe it’s because, to a 20-year-old, growing up sounds really scary. I don’t know where I’m going to live in the next five years. I don’t know what my first full-time job will be. I know I want to get married, but I have no idea when, and people around me are getting married left and right. I don’t know what in the world my life will be even in the near future let alone the distant future!

But if you just focus on being the princess you are, life becomes less scary. It’s about taking life one day at a time and handling each situation the best way you know how. It’s about knowing you are fully capable of running your own kingdom like a boss, but it’s always better having your prince or sister (in the case of "Frozen") there to help. It’s about leaving the past in the past and moving toward a better future.

But you don’t know these things when you’re a kid. You have to grow up a little bit (but not TOO much!) to see that Disney movies have life lessons that are actually more than a child can understand. They are a source of laughter, lessons, and an escape from a life that has enough troubles of its own. Some kids were forced to grow up faster because of the life they were born into. For people whose childhood ended up far less magical than they deserved, it is a way for them to live a fairytale that they never got.

I think everyone can find a character they relate to, or maybe aspire to be more like. Maybe you are waiting for the right man to really fight for you (Sleeping Beauty, Maid Marian). Maybe you are tired of other people dictating your decisions for you, and you want to get the final say (Jasmine). Maybe you feel like there’s no way for you to meet that special someone because life has you locked in the same place every day ("Rapunzel"). Maybe you desperately want someone to take you to a place where life is more carefree and you don’t have to grow up (Peter Pan).

To those who grew up and are the villains of this world, it wasn’t really worth it, was it?

So what am I trying to say? Go watch your favorite childhood Disney movie with a fresh set of eyes. Relive what made you love it when you were younger, but also see the Disney magic that is truly timeless.