You Can Do Anything With the Right Soundtrack

 It's a Wonderful Run. A 5K race in Seneca Falls, the town where the author wrote the book on which It's A Wonderful Life was based. Oh, it was a cold night. The race started at 4:40pm and standing high above the river atop a bridge we were completely exposed to the wind. Warm light clothes that are perfect for running in this weather are not so hot at standing in the wind. It cut right through whatever I was wearing. There may have been hundreds of people on that bridge, but there was no amount of them to crowd around that could provide the protection that I needed.

The race started on the 'George Baily' bridge, my iPod led off with a song that a Beatles fan can appreciate, She Said, She Said. With the line, "you're making me feel like I've never been born" I thought, well played, iPod. The music is what keeps you going on a night like this. She's on Fire and Soak Up the Sun give warm thoughts and an odd realization that I had an inordinate amount of warm songs to choose from.

Running was tough. With almost 3,000 runners it was scrunchy and crowded. But being my first night run, I enjoyed the sights. People out on the sidewalks and lawns watching & cheering. Some had bonfires in their yards. I couldn't feel the heat, but just the smell of burning wood provided  thoughts of comfort and warmth. Once I got going, though, warmth wasn't an issue. Footing was. After two miles of tromping through the snow I was feeling the wear on my legs and psyche.

The snow was thick and grainy and made it feel as though I was running through sand.  Thighs and knees were burning from plodding over the snow.  Runners crowded around looking for footing in the few maneuverable sections of the road, strong arming me, sometimes physically bumping or by invading my space.  12^o outside, but the cold on my skin wasn’t as much an issue as the frigid air I’d suck into my lungs. Nasal drainage froze to my lip and each breath left my lungs and mouth harder and harder. Environment and physical factors beat me down, saying, “Stop. Walk. Rest.”

But then the song comes on. Uplifting in mood and tone with a pounding of the beat. Horns start in taking the music higher, with a regal and powerful mood. My back straightens a little. My feet hit the road just as hard, but my body was feeling a little lighter. Shoulders back and head up, my eyes scan forward because as my spine and back straighten, my vantage and field of vision increase. This change comes from my mind via the music.  The song has a spirituality to it and I’m lifting higher and lighter, out of body, I am floating up and I can see myself from above. I float higher looking down as I pan away to the sky, seeing me, those next to me, further back puts more and more runners in view as it seems to expand out from me in the center. But then I’m not the center. I am an unidentifiable part of a mass of runners, all moving along the same path like a line of ants.

This is the music from Thor, so I see Thor & the warriors three racing on horses across the rainbow bridge.  Flying between realms, speeding across space on the bifrost, I picture a hammer summoning lightning from the sky then pounding on the ground with enough force to make ripples in the earth like throwing a rock in a pond.  He confronts the enemy and even though it doesn’t always go as planned or easily, Thor fights through pain, adversity, and horrible odds to ultimately triumph. I can do that.

 

I zoom back in on me.  Imagery and music mean everything here. My view of the race. The music becomes part of my drive. Breaths are deeper and strides stronger. There's no stopping. This is heroic. The wind brings the snow in sharply from the north and swirls it around making a cloud moving down on us. The combined breath of the runners creates a haze moving up from the ground. Mixed with the cloud this breathy snow fog  picks up and amplifies the Christmas lights of the houses along the block and the red flashing lights of the police cars lining the route. The nighttime darkness above and a ruddy glow from below are the environment for my struggle. There are 1,000 people in front of me and 1,000 people behind me. The music pounds, sings, and inspires as I start to pass more than pass me.

 

Fighting the urge to walk and fighting to reach and pass the next person on my horizon feels every bit as heroic as anything the Avengers ever did on film. Moving along Cayuga Street past blocks of beautifully maintained Queen Anne and Victorian style houses, I hit a groove. Running down and around the right turn lane on to Main Street gives a boost that feels like I'm using the gravity of some heavenly body to catapult me to points beyond. With that last stretch lined with fans, well-wishers, and a town decked out in Christmas lights, I'm home.

Princess Smack Down

I can empathize with my daughter. I was part of a household where the gender ratio was tilted heavily toward the female side. But, if it bothered me at the time, I can't say. It probably did. There is only so much of Barbies, clothes, make-up, shoes, & periods that a young man can take. Baseball and seclusion in my room must have been my coping behavior. My daughter is much less ambivalent. She does tire of superhero  and video game talk and she isn't afraid to let the boys know that.

The train ride from Florida to Virginia is a long one. That evening as we sat in the lounge car, she put her foot down, and said, enough of the Avengers talk. With that, my job was to find a topic that all the kids could enjoy. The answer, naturally, was ass kicking princesses.


The basic question was: Who is the toughest Disney princess?  We were in the Disney zone. A flurry of Disney movies prior to our trip, a week at the Disney parks, and ALL that talk of ALL things Disney had us primed. Everyone had an opinion. All yelling at once. I had to go all Voltaire on them. If you're going to discuss this, you have to define your terms!

First, who qualifies as a princess? Belle, Snow White, Ariel..they are obvious. Mulan? Pocohontas? Not exactly royalty and their status doesn't seem so clear. The official Disney Princess Website said they were. That is an official source, so with that, those being considered were Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, & Merida. That part was easy.

Then, we had to decide, what is tough? There was much arguing, yelling, and movie quotes were flyin'. Taking various examples, we narrowed it down to four categories. Physical toughness, mental toughness, intelligence, & bravery. Most of these seem self-explanatory. Although, just to be clear, by mental toughness, we decided, would include traits like determination, confidence, and defiance.

The bottom of the list was pretty easy for everyone. Sorry, early princesses, it's not that you're weak. You were just drawn that way. 

11. Aurora

10. Snow White

9. Cinderella

8. Ariel

These princesses had great stories. Challenging stories. And those bottom three were workers, boy. They weren't afraid to get in there and get their hands dirty. Literally. Aurora lived in a cabin in the woods with three old ladies. That is a lot of wood chopping, cleaning, and beating your clothes clean with a rock down in the icy water in the creek. And don't tell me she wasn't angry when she realized she'd been wiping with leaves all those years while her three old room mates had magic wands packed away.

Snow White was raised as a princess, but knew how to shape up the dwarf's cabin. Woodland creatures didn't do ALL the work.

Cinderella, too had to work her way through life, until the big day. But when it came to the turmoil of these princesses lives, stuff happened TO them. They were batted around by fate and were subject to the actions of hunters, maniacal dragons, and prince charmings.

 Ariel got a little bump by signing on with the Sea Witch. Gutsy, but even that, though, was throwing herself to the whims of fate. All she did was sign her name. But Ariel got some props for maneuvering the human world, moving her up to #8.

 

 The next two...

7. Pocohontas
6. Jasmine

...are tough because there isn't much to go on.  Both were raised as princesses. Not exactly hard lives. Pocohontas had to be outdoorsy, and fearlessly jumped over a waterfall, so that moved her ahead of some.

And with Jasmine, it is hard to look tough when your outfit is a tube top and parachute pants. But there are bad ass points to be gained when your best friend is a tiger. And pole vaulting between buildings is a hint that she has some athletic skills.

 

 

 5. Rapunzel
 4. Tiana

This is the point where there were differences of opinion, but in reality, is probably a toss up. Rapunzel had been locked in a tower, yes. But still, she didn't have hard times. Athletically, Rapunzel has skills. Using her hair to pull her evil "mother" up the tower had to be build up her core, big time. Hooking up with a wanted criminal, then crashing a bar full of thugs & ruffians with a frying pan as her only weapon, Rapunzel did pretty good.

Tiana had a harder life. She knew the cards were stacked against her and she fought it out anyway. Like Rapunzel, Tiana had a dream and she worked long, long hours to make it happen.  Ignoring peer pressure, defying racial bias, and using her street smarts put Tiana toward the top. And besides that, she kissed a damn frog! That nasty! But it helped ger her to #4.

3. Belle

Sure, Belle looks all girly, but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Hanging outside the social norms of her town, willingly taking the place of her father in a prison guarded by a huge scary beast, and fighting off a pack of wolves shows her moxie. Belle even took on an angry mob with her aging father and a chipped, talking tea cup for back-up. She's got guts. And she's my favorite. I can't believe I left her as low as #3.

The top two were the easiest. You can't really fight these two. Literally and figuratively.

2. Merida

Merida is a princess. Her mother would really like her to act like one. But she doesn't want to. It just isn't her. Merida isn't just a tomboy. She beat the best soldiers in the kingdom in the bow & arrow competition. And can hit just about anything with an arrow riding a horse full speed.  She is a skilled horseman and a cracker jack archer. When she was pissed at her mother she got a spell to turn her into a bear, then was devastated that she'd done such a thing. So, Merida had that touch of mental imbalance that makes her someone you don't want to mess with. That girl is craaaaaazy! But she comes in at #2.

 

Finally, #1 is Mulan.

 

This Chinese firecracker has a history that is similar to Merida. From a well off family, Mulan's mother tries to make this girl into the ideal Chinese young lady, but fails miserably. Then despite China's rigid gender roles, when the time comes to step up and stand in for her ailing father, Mulan defies her family, culture, & her place by going to battle for him.

 

 

Technically, Ariel did the same, but Mulan endured, and succeeded, in a medieval Chinese boot camp, went off to war, and could have gotten the ancient Chinese equivalent of a purple heart for her wounds in battle. Once you kick the Hun's buns, you're king of the mountain.

 

 

This list was in no way meant to disparage any princesses. I'm a believer in multiple intelligences. Everybody is good at something.  Snow White is in tune with nature. Pocohontas has got some existential groove going on. And Cinderella can really work a crowd. But if there is going to be a rumble, some little neighborhood smack down, then Mulan is your gal.

 

Please leave a comment. Tell me, who is your choice for toughest princess?