Letting go is very different than freezing and saying “I don’t care.”
Lettin go is very different than saying “I don’t care,” or just freezing up on all your emotions. Beware the egoic trap “I don’t care,” from which may emerge all manner of things to support that idea of not caring. The story of our Disney friend, Elsa, delineates the pros and the cons.
Surely every reader on the internet has heard this Monday Music song, at least once! The song is “Let It Go” from the Disney movie “Frozen”. But, just in case you haven’t heard “Let It Go,” or seen the movie, here’s the backstory: A princess child loses her parents, and becomes queen at a young age. However, she has a special gift for creating snow and ice out of thin air. This of course becomes dangerous and causes trouble, so the young Princess Elsa decides to leave her life behind and go into isolation where she can never hurt anyone again. This is where we find Elsa, in this song, letting go by not caring:
Posted on YouTube by DisneyUK:
What is a pure letting go?
Like any child or young person, in biological or emotional years, Elsa made a knee jerk decision, and left her home, forsaking all that was familiar to her. This is not exactly a pure letting go. Usually, in the pure sense of letting go, the freedom lingers, the taste in your mouth remains good, or there is little backlash or doubt. In Elsa’s situation, something bad happened;, something Elsa didn’t understand or have full control of. Elsa’s letting go actually put herself in isolation, in service of keeping everyone else safe. Or so she told herself.
Seen as it is laid out in this movie, it’s quickly discernable that the decisions of Elsa are child-like, without the endurance of dissonance that a more mature or experienced older, adult-like person might have managed. More fact-gathering, more understanding, a few words or well-placed questions might have changed the situation’s dynamic. Admitting to someone that she was afraid, and didn’t understand her “frozen” powers, might have proved useful in getting some help or a teacher. Of course, Elsa very legitimately feared damnation by her peers; so she hid instead. Sound familiar? Hiding and freezing are very different than letting go; don’t be confused by the difference.
“The real trick, the non-egoic space, the non-attached space, the real success, is to be free equally in, and outside of, community. Self-awareness facilitates that.”
And it is true. It is not guaranteed ever, that everyone will always handle everything with adult discernment, and maturity. But the possibility is always available; you just have to wake up to it. This child’s song from a child’s cartoon, carries a grand adult message. Are you listening?
Letting go: a key to fulfillment?
Just like gurus from many centuries of religious teaching have also done, the “Frozen” song proclaims letting go as the key to fulfillment. Letting go is fine. But there are consequences if silently, internally you still have a little inward attachment, despite your outward professions of letting go. Attachment to being “the good girl [or boy] you always have to be;” and fear around being seen or feeling emotionally out of place, may lead to that decision to “[c]onceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know.”
And then you might find yourself in “[a] kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I’m the queen [or king].”
The “I don’t care” thought forms
Elsa declares: “I don’t care [w]hat they’re going to say. Let the storm rage on,
[t]he cold never bothered me anyway!” I wonder about the voracity of those statements. Unless you are a bonafide sociopath, I imagine you do feel, but you just don’t know it, or you don’t know how to express or witness it, in yourself and/or in others. And that unknowing or confusion around how to experience something may prompt the statement “I don’t care.” And from the thought forms “I don’t care,” emerges all manner of things to support your belief that you actually don’t care. It’s something of an egoic trap. So be careful!
“Ponder letting go, isolation, feeling the feeling as you go through your week. Be curious, and find yourself, here, now.”
And for a while you may feel, “No right, no wrong, no rules for me, I’m free!” But the trap of being something you weren’t in community that you just escaped by not caring, may have been just as quickly replaced by the trap of being free in isolation, outside of community. The real trick, the non-egoic space, the non-attached space, the real success, is to be free equally in, and outside of, community. Self-awareness facilitates that. Listening to music with a lens of hearing the universal, archetypal messages of the human rites of passage can facilitate self-awareness, even when the music is a song from a child’s movie.
The lyricists for “Let It Go” were obviously aware of this and nicely used spiritual and or scientific buzz words to point in this general direction:
“My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back,
The past is in the past!”
Obviously this is a child’s cartoon song, but the data is still there: fractals, spiraling souls, one thought, crystalizes, the past is the past. It’s all very interesting. Enjoy the music, and use the Grounded Relating music challenge to stay present to yourself today.Ponder letting go, isolation, feeling the feeling as you go through your week. Be curious, and find yourself, here, now.
Full lyrics for “Let It Go” from the Disney movie “Frozen” soundtrack, as posted on azlyrics.com :
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the queen.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried!
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know!
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door!
I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway!
It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all!
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me I’m free!
Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry!
Here I stand
And here I’ll stay
Let the storm rage on!
My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back,
The past is in the past!
Let it go, let it go
When I’ll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone!
Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway!
