Music Notes

Challenge Day 6

Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets. – Paul Tournier

Can you share a secret? Small or big, tell us. No? Tell us why not.

What do you think we are, two years old or something? If someone has things they choose to keep private about their mental health, physical health, personal life, religion, gender/sexuality, job status, education status, wealth, or even their housing status, that's entirely their call and it's none of your business to inquire.

These days when mega corporations are after everyone's data and website security is constantly breached, it's even more important to maintain a level of privacy or even anonymity about one's online persona. We all know the old rule of "don't share your birthday, birthplace, high school, first pet, first car, mother's maiden name, etc because those are your account security questions…" And I hope we never expect such openness from others.

The modern social media environment has brought us to the point where we assume everything we do has to be publicized, monetized, beautified, and otherwise adulterated for widespread consumption. I don't believe in making my private life a subject of discussion among others, even if this is a safe space and y'all are my friends.

Enough ranting. I'll do my best to treat the prompt good-humored-ly from this point…

One secret I think I can safely share here is that I'm really Elsa, the Snow Queen. After the events of Frozen 2, I decided to spend most of my time alone in the Northern Lands, hanging out with my elemental spirit companions: Bruni the Fire Salamander,
the Water Nokk (a blue ice horse,) Gale, the wind spirit, and the Earth Giants.

The most enjoyable moments of my life are when I'm riding my water horse through the wild woods, headed back to Arendelle to visit Anna. She's my little sister; when I moved up north she became ruler in my place. I felt nervous at first about this arrangement, afraid people would say I abdicated, that I was being irresponsible to run away from my duties as queen.

But Anna rose to the challenge. I'm proud of how well she's handling being Queen. It was one of the most freeing things I've ever done, to release the heavy burden of rulership and find my true self in the peace and tranquility of the great wilderness beyond our kingdom.

At times, however, such solitude becomes boring. There's a limit to the intelligent conversation one can have with a fire salamander or a water horse. And weekly visits to see my family only go so far.

It is then that I turn to writing: stories, poetry, even songs. I come here to see what a diverse and cooperative writing community looks like, and I share what I create. Anna recommended I not reveal my identity at first, out of concern for my well-being. I found it quite amusing to play myself in the 2023 Masquerade; I daresay no one guessed it wasn't a roleplay at all.

Having now given away my deepest and strangest secret, I close with the words of OneRepublic, one of my favorite artists:

I need another story, something to get off my chest
My life gets kinda boring—need something that I can confess
Till all my sleeves are stained red
From all the truth that I've said
Come by it honestly, I swear
Thought you saw me wink, no—
I've been on the brink, so

Tell me what you want to hear
Something that'll light those ears
Sick of all the insinceres
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
This time, don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics never jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away…

Got no reasons, got no shame
Got no family I can blame
Just don't let me disappear
I'ma tell you everything…

Word Count: 623.