A Whole New World

“A Whole New World”. Most of us know this as an incredibly beautiful moment between two cartoon characters, but it can always go deeper. For me, it was the chart topper the week of my birth as well as a reminder of the love my husband and I share. As with most people my age a good part of my childhood was made up of a classic age of Disney movies, but Aladdin is definitely high up on the list of incredibly amazing productions. Jasmine always seemed to be a perfect mixture of daintiness, sexiness, and self-reliance. She played a role in her own saving, which appealed to my tomboyish Xena loving nature. Aladdin also seemed like the perfect boyfriend- mysterious, funny, but still incredibly sweet. As I grew up I still looked for these kinds of traits in my own boyfriends. Ironically enough, when I did find the love of my life I was more Aladdin and he was more Jasmine. A Whole New World always makes me think of our relationship. It was one of the first songs we sang together (my husband slightly unwillingly), and is a song we still sing together whenever we hear it (also slightly unwillingly on his part). It always brings to mind the moment when Aladdin holds out his hand and they have the moment of trust. It sums up my relationship with my husband very well. A constant trade off of hands held out in trust. While my marriage is the most important of these relationships in my life, I feel that this a summation of all good relationships in our lives. If we cannot accept another's hand of trust or extend our own in return, what is the point of the relationship? If we can’t explore new sights and new places together it almost defeats the purpose of it all. Now, of course, there will always be some in our lives that we don’t feel this way about and that’s ok. As long as the important relationships are based on trust. I guess honestly that’s my biggest takeaway from this song of my birth so to speak. It’s a call to evaluate the friendships we have and see which ones might not be in the realm of trust, and our acquaintances to see which ones are worth the effort and the carpet ride in essence.

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