Inspiration from The Princess Diaries

I just love this movie - starring Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, and Hector Elizondo, three of my favorite actors.

It's a cute, sweet, feel-good real-live princess story, but I shamelessly love it. I hadn't seen it in years when it came on TV last night, and I really looked forward to sitting down and watching it from beginning to end. (Unfortunately, sharing an apartment with four other people, especially on a Friday night, is not conducive to a quiet movie night. lol)

Anyway, I can recite lines from the movie because I've seen it so many times, but there are a few quotes I found noteworthy. They stuck with me, both when I was watching the movie and after, so I thought I'd share them here.

If you haven't seen the movie, I'll give a brief synopsis first. Basically, 15-year-old Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is the typical invisible geek at a private high school in San Francisco. She leads a humble life, living with her single mother, and accompanied by an equally as "geeky," hard-headed and determined best friend with a passion for changing the world.

One day, Mia's paternal grandmother (Julie Andrews) arrives in town, wanting to have tea. She is the queen of a country called Genovia, and her son (Mia's father) was Crown Prince. Mia hadn't seen him since she was very young. He recently passed away, however, which means Mia is now heir(ess) to the throne.

Long story short, the movie follows Mia's struggle to accept this new role and ultimately learn to love and accept herself, all while undergoing hilarious "princess lessons" with her grandmother, Queen Clarisse, who is stern but kind; meeting foreign diplomats; battling the evil that is the "popular crowd"; and balancing out her invisible adolescent existence with the new spotlight being a princess thrusts her into.

Toward the end of the movie, during her hardest time of self-doubt, she reads a letter her father left her before he died:

My dearest daughter,

Today is your sixteenth birthday. Congratulations. I present you with this diary, to fill the pages with your special thoughts - special thoughts of your wonderful life.
It is a custom in my family to pass on a piece of wisdom when one reaches this age. I pass it on to you, as my father passed it on to me.

Amelia, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.

From now on, you'll be traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be. The key is to allow yourself to make the journey.

I also want you to know: I loved your mother very much and still think of her often.
Happy birthday, my Mia.

All my love,
Your father

The letter resonated with me, particularly at this time in my life. My favorite part is "traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be." I think we all travel that road until the day we die.

Another quote from the movie is simple, but so sweet. At Mia's coronation ball, she dances with her best friend's brother, who had been there for (and was meant for) her all along. It took her awhile to figure that out, though.

Michael: Why me?
Mia: Because you saw me when I was invisible.

I kind of feel like this is Bjorn and me. I wasn't the quiet high school geek, but I never had a boyfriend until him. No one ever seemed interested, and the few dates I did have were disappointing and fruitless. Then came along Bjorn, who fell in love with me even before he saw me in person. Kind of like when I was invisible to him.

Just some of my thoughts tonight. I recommend you watch The Princess Diaries! :)