A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

I recently listen to some old Disney songs and I was captivated by "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella. The song is beautiful and it makes me emotional. I even cried a little bit when I listened to it. I don't know why, I guess it hit the right spot in my brain and I just cried.

There are 3 different versions that I listen to. I first listened to the original version then I found out that Carrie Hope Fletcher did a cover for the song. After that, I listened to Lily James' version. Which version do you like? I like all of them.

What's more interesting is, I find that some people admire how Cinderella could still be happy despite the fact that her stepmother and stepsisters treated her badly. Instead of being depressed, she sang and had faith in her dream. I know many people think that Cinderella is silly because she did nothing to get out of her condition. However let's just face that she was helpless. At that period of time you couldn't go to police and report child abuse. Well, I don't know much about European society back then. If you know anything about it, please write a comment.

The song she sang, "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" carries some messages. Let's take a look at the lyrics first.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

when you're fast asleep

In dream you will lose your heartaches

whatever you wish for you keep

Have faith in your dreams and someday 

your rainbow will come smiling thru

No matter how your heart is grieving,

if you keep on believing the dream that you wish will come true

The first message that I got is everyone needs good sleep. Sleep helps your body maintain its function and clear your mind. That's why treatment for depression often involves keeping good quality of sleep. 

Secondly, the song is about optimism. You wish something and you believe you can get it.

The third message is this song, sung by Cinderella, can be an example of coping mechanism. Coping mechanism or defense mechanism or coping strategy is how people respond to stress. There are many examples of it. The one that Cinderella used is called sublimation. It means channeling stress or uncomfortable feeling into something useful or creative. You can read more about coping strategy here and here.

I think those are nice messages. I know that we don't live in fairy tale and we don't know how our tale will end. It doesn't matter. A little fantasy is always fine and the messages are still good.

Some Lessons from Megara

Megara

I like some Disney stories and recently I'm a little bit obsessed with Megara. Do you know Megara? She's Hercules's love interest. In Greek mythology, Megara was the oldest daughter of Creon, king of Thebes. However in Disney version, her family background is unknown. 

Megara is different from other Disney girls because she's not even a girl. She's a woman. If you look for role model for girl in Disney, you can look at Belle because she likes to read, or Tiana because she believes in working hard to reach her dream.  When a girl grows up into a woman, she still have to read and work hard to reach her dream. Beside that, she will find difficulty, make mistakes, and have to deal with the consequences. She need more role models and Megara can be one. 

According to Disney Wikia, Meg is the first Disney female heroine who had an ex boyfriend. She had saved him but he left her. Then she fell into Hades' trap. Her past made Megara skeptical about love. She's not like other Disney girls who seem to be "innocent" and "inexperienced" in love.

I don't mean that girl should have boyfriend to learn. Even so, let's face it, many of us have made that mistake. You know, falling in love to the wrong person. Falling in love is actually a natural thing because love at the first sight does exist and you can blame dopamine and oxytocin for any irrational thing that happens when you fall in love. Just because it's natural, it doesn't mean that you can marry or have a relationship with anyone you're falling in love with. When Meg was in love with Hercules, she didn't admit it at first. She took time to think it over because she didn't want to make the same mistake. 

Another thing to note from Meg is her sassiness or, my friend call it her "like a boss" attitude. Watch this video and you will know what I mean. I like when she introduced herself by saying, "Megara. My friends call me Meg. At least they would if I had any friends." She also taught us thing about men. "Well, you know how men are. They think 'No' means 'Yes' and 'Get lost!' means 'Take me, I'm yours,' " said Meg.

My obsession with Meg came to the point when few days ago, Lady Slytherin and I browse through pictures to print as stickers. After we finished, I asked, "One more picture please. May I add Megara?" She said, "You like Megara? Oh well, but why?"

Anyway, I found two interesting articles about Disney's Megara and Hercules:

Meg from Disney's 'Hercules' Is One of the Best Role Models for Women

Proof That “Hercules” Is One Of The Most Underrated Disney Movies Ever