3 Lessons from Disney’s Encanto

Warning: There are spoilers in this post from the movie Encanto.

I watched Disney’s Encanto over the holiday weekend. I have not been able to get the message of this movie out of my head. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to watch it.

A lot stood out to me, but there are three lessons from the Madrigal sisters that I want to share with you. As we close out another year, I believe the storyline for each girl invites reflections that might change how you choose to show up in the New Year.

You don’t have to be the strong one

The oldest sister, Luisa, is the strong one. In the movie she is depicted as physically strong, a metaphor for all the ways you may often feel you have to be the strong one.

In her soliloquy/song, she talks about the ways the pressure is wearing on her. She describes the countless ways, as the oldest, she is expected to bear the family’s burdens.

How she must carry the weight of those expectations without failure, without making a mistake, without missing anything. With each verse that she sings, you can see how it’s all weighing her down.

Until finally, she muses,

“If I could shake the crushing weight of expectations would that free some room up for joy? Or relaxation? Or simple pleasure?”

Luisa begins to imagine a different way of being.  

What would open up for YOU if you shook off the crushing weight of other people’s expectations? What joy could you access? How might pleasure find its way to you? Who might you become if you didn’t have to be the strong one?

It’s okay to not be perfect

The second daughter, Isabela, is the perfect one. In the movie, she is effortlessly beautiful and graceful. She a metaphor for all the ways we believe perfection is the only option.

In her soliloquy/song, Isabela hints at the fact a lot is hiding behind her perfect smile. A lot she feels she can’t share or do because she has to be perfect. Everything is done exactly as expected; exactly as others need it to be.

But Isabela finds out that it’s possible to create something other than what is expected, and it is still good. Better than good, it’s beautiful.

I’m sure you can relate to the need to be perfect. I have yet to work with a client who doesn’t deal with perfectionism in some way.

The thing is perfection is not possible. It is an illusion and, as Isabela learns, there is true beauty to be found in the so-called imperfections of life.

What could shift and open up for you, if you let go of the need to be perfect? What could you do if you accepted that who you want to be is imperfect, (and that’s okay)? If YOU didn’t have to be perfect, how might you show up more fully in your life?

You are the miracle

Finally, there is Mirabel, the youngest of the sisters. She is the ordinary one, the one without a special miracle or a special gift. And yet, she is the one who ultimately saves her family.

My favorite scene of the entire movie comes near the end when Mirabel’s magic is finally activated. Here’s the thing though, she didn’t do anything extraordinary. She was simply Mirabel.

The parts of her that were hidden, ignored because she didn’t fit the mold of the family she had been born into, finally found expression.

When she stopped wishing she was like everyone in her family, she could finally be who she was and that proved to be enough. Not just enough, it proved to be exactly what was needed. Mirabel, in her extraordinary ordinariness, was the miracle they needed.

In what ways have you decided that you need to be something or someone other than who you are? How are you hiding, playing small because you are comparing yourself to others around? And I wonder, if you decided to simply show up as you are, what magic might you discover inside you?

Encanto’s Mirror

Each of the characters in Encanto offers a mirror to examine the lies you believe about yourself. Everywhere you turn, you’re inundated with messaging that screams you are not enough in some way.

It’s time to defy that lie. It’s time to normalize ordinary, time embrace imperfection, and time to shred that superwoman cloak.

Now is the time to simply be you.

Here’s to you embracing the miracle that is YOU and rising into your greatness.

From my heart to yours, 

P.S: If you relate to one of these sisters and can’t figure out how to defy the lie that has shaped you, let’s talk. Schedule a complimentary call where we can discover what it could look like for you to embrace a new way of being. Book your call today.