How Elsa Owns Anxiety

Frozen. It's about winning over anxiety.

You know that scene where Anna and Elsa’s parents just died? And Anna is sitting outside Elsa’s bedroom, confused and upset because Elsa is still shutting her out? And then all of a sudden you see Elsa on the other side of the door, and it’s like a nuclear explosion of frostbite madness emanating from Elsa’s body?

(somewhat sketchy and probably illegal copy of this scene)

When I saw that scene for the first time, I almost choked on my popcorn. That’s it, I thought. Disney has portrayed what I could not--this is EXACTLY what anxiety feels like.

Okay, to further illustrate. Remember that scene where Anna is trying to get Elsa off the frozen mountain and back to Arendelle? Did you pick up on Elsa’s lyrics?

“I’m such a fool,

I can’t be free…

No escape from the storm inside of me.

I can’t control the curse.

There’s so much fear.

You’re not safe here.”

Frozen is an almost perfect analogy for generalized anxiety disorder. Like, so much so that it’s trippy. We N.S.O.P.H.’s sometimes freak out and lose control of our powers...

but...

if we’re being honest…

we have power. Don’t say that you don’t wish you could be Elsa for just like five minutes.

Let’s take a second to recognize how butt-kickingly awesome Elsa is. She has magical powers. She makes an entire ice castle in like, three musical minutes. She creates snow-henchmen and Olafs with the flick of her finger. And--this one is important--Elsa brings out the best in Anna. I mean, Anna’s pretty cool, but she’s kind of got nothing going for her until her sister goes nuts. And then Anna becomes a hero.

What’s the takeaway here?

Takeaway 1: Support system.

I just wanna give a shout-out to all of the Anna’s (and Olaf's and Sven's and Kristoff's) out there. You are ESSENTIAL for our survival. For reals. For everyone who’s ever dealt with a friend’s anxiety, giving them space and/or love as the situation demands, forgiven angry anxious outbursts, and/or shanghaied a studly ice transporter person on a crazy adventure up a snowy mountain in order to rescue our sorry bums, I just wanna say...you’re the best. Seriously. Aren’t you glad we force...er...bring out your better selves?

This is you. No big deal.

Takeaway 2: Embrace your special powers.

Let it go, sis, let it go

Okay. Anxiety is like living life on high-intensity mode, and there are a lot of downsides to that. But anxiety also often accompanies creativity, drive, and some other positive traits. Like ice-magic-wielding powers. Sometimes us N.S.O.P.H.’s are like that. We’re struggling, struggling, struggling, trying to find a calm in the storm, and accidentally we create something amazing. Van Gogh and Albert Einstein are good examples.

I feel like Dr. Banner/Hulk also fits into this category.

Takeaway 3: Summer inevitably comes.

I’m going to be honest….as cool as it is to be Elsa on top of that mountain, dressed like a classy gorgeous diva and singing like a goddess at the top of your lungs, it’s so much better to be safely down in Arendelle. I think most of us N.S.O.P.H. will admit that although anxiety makes us unique, it’s a pretty heavy burden.

Sometimes it feels like you’re wandering in the middle of the frozen fjords and the cold just keeps on coming out from inside you. You’re alone; your friends are upset at you; you’ve hurt yourself and other people; and you’re devastated by how fruitless your efforts to protect them have been. You wish things were different.

“Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart…” Yep, I’m going there. I don’t think I can really explain this one as well as it deserves. But in the middle of really intense pain, really intense love goes a long, long, long, long, long long long way. Like, the kind of love where my sister drops everything she’s doing to go for a run with me in the middle of the night when the anxiety is bad. Or the kind of love where I pray for peace and just for like five minutes I’m filled so strongly with the love of God that it’s breathtaking. Or the kind of love where I forgive myself for the curse.

Guys, Frozen. It’s all about anxiety. And thank heavens that after long, icy, humorous, painful, wittily-crafted plot sequences, there’s Arendelle in summer down at the bottom of the mountain. I believe that. I believe it with all my princess-loving, steadily-thawing little-girl heart.