“There’s always been a bit of the Princess archetype in you,” she said. (And she’s totally right; there always has.) “And I thought you had manifested that for yourself, that your life was settled and you had gotten your happily ever after. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but I didn’t see you.”
In her talk on vulnerability, Brene Brown says that the word courage comes from the word coeur, French for heart. What is courage? She says it is telling the story of who you are with your whole heart: in other words, allowing yourself to be seen, choosing the authentic. It takes courage to tell our stories. It takes courage to be honest and open. And it takes courage to infuse our artistic work with truth.
Coeur.
Photo Credit: Miriam Cardoso de Souza via Compfight cc
She also mentions the importance of having the courage to be imperfect. And let me tell you something about the Princess archetype. It’s not all bad: it includes a healthy dose of positivity, some chirping birds, romance and adventure. But it also contains no space for imperfection. The Princess in the fairy tales is perfection in essence: she is beautiful and charming, she is talented, she can sing and play music and dance and speak twenty languages, she always knows what to say, she has a sweet disposition, and she never ever feels angry or tired or upset. She can only feel fear when she is in danger as a plot device to allow the prince/knight/fool to rescue her, self-actualize, and win her as a prize. And she is always brave and smiling.
Being the Princess means not being seen for yourself.
I have been the Princess. I have tried to be perfect in every possible way. I have worked to be attractive and charming and to always set people at ease and know the right thing to say. Whenever I have made a mistake, it has meant falling short of impossible standards. I have tried to please everyone and hate admitting that I need anything at all.
And yet, it has only been through surrendering the Princess archetype that I could begin creating the life that I want. It has only been through searching for people who don’t need me to be that Princess that I could finally be me, with everything that encompasses. It has only been through finding my coeur to begin to tell my story that I could create authentic connections with other people. Being able to see other people and being seen yourself, as it turns out, go hand in hand.
When I think of all those years I was trapped in the tower of Princess-hood, I feel very sad. Now that I’ve rescued myself, I try not to be perfect with appropriate imperfection. I don’t always smile. I am not always brave. I sometimes put my own needs first, and I am allowed to ask for things. There is space for me to have emotions. The world doesn’t end when I can’t always be strong.
It feels very strange to not be a Princess. But also very right.
The Practical Free Spirit 
Admitting your own flaws is very liberating, as you express so well here. Sounds like a moving and eventful journey.
Hey, I can leave comments again! My computer is better.
There was a term that my counselor used — adolescent purity. She said it was a beautiful thing ill-suited to real life. Letting go of the need to be pure has actually made it easier to stay true to my ideals. Rather than being locked out of a crystal castle, I can now travel in the right direction at my own pace.
I’ve just come across some information about two royal types from the dark ages in Britain…Matilda and Elenanor…described as she wolf queens…they were really strong minded and did their very best to rule as women when it was deemed unladylike to do so ( …seems interesting that negative attitudes linger on after all these years….this doesn’t really fit with your’ not a princess” blog post but it made me think of them immediately.