Who is your cartoon role model?

Visual images can be a powerful source of inspiration. I wrote a couple days ago about how I used to open up a cute image of a cartoon turtle whenever I worked on my dissertation (you know... just to keep me company on my desktop!) and how it helped remind me of self-help guru Martha Beck’s inspirational motto, “Turtle steps.” In other words: small, consistent steps add up to big progress. To mix metaphors: you don’t have to knock the ball out of the park every day; you just have to show up at the stadium and do your warmups. That little turtle got me through some tough months.

So, today, I’m returning to the blog with a quick question for you. Who is your cartoon role model? Do you have one? Should you have one? Would your life be exponentially better if you had one? Possibly!

My current cartoon inspiration is Moana, and here’s why: it all comes down to the lyrics of I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors). Reading over the lyrics, it’s hard for me to choose just one section of the song (is Lin-Manuel Miranda a genius, or what?), but take a look at this:

The people you love will change you

The things you have learned will guide you

And nothing on Earth can silence

The quiet voice still inside you

And when that voice starts to whisper

Moana, you’ve come so far

Moana, listen

Do you know who you are?

It’s such an important question: Do you know who you are?

Knowing who you are is about authenticity. It’s about identity—which is partly about where and whom you’ve come from (“I am the daughter of the village chief; We are descended from voyagers”), but it’s also more than that. Knowing who you are means standing in your truth. It means trusting your voice and your own perceptions. The people you love WILL change you—for better and for worse.

Indeed:

The journey may leave a scar

But scars can heal and reveal just who you are

I have this Disney Princess lunchbox note tucked into a frame in my dining room.

[Alt text: A small, hand-drawn card of the character Moana with the words: "Know Who You Are," is tucked into a framed photograph.]

Who are you when you’re showing up for yourself? When you’re at your most brave and courageous?

This scene toward the end of the movie, of Moana walking toward Te Kā, never fails to move me.

[Alt text: Moana walks across the parted ocean toward movie villain Te Kā.]

Who is your best self?

Do whatever you need to do to access that core, unshakeable strength inside you. Do whatever you need to do to protect her from being harmed.

And, remember this:

The call isn’t out there at all

It’s inside me

It’s like the tide

Always falling and rising

I will carry you here in my heart

You’ll remind me

Come what may

I know the way

The call isn’t out there at all.

It's inside you.

Loving and accepting yourself is an inside job; it always has been and always will be.