Thaw the Frozen heart

A bit of introduction: I'm always very analytical about things, and more so since I've come back from my mission. I attribute this to the practice I had analyzing and looking for applications for things from the scriptures. Well, since being back home I've found that analytic approach starting to apply to other things, especially movies. Hence the somewhat recent post about Hunger Games. Well, another movie I saw over the thanksgiving break was Frozen, Disney's latest installment. Fair warning, I will be speaking about the movie as if you had already seen it, so if you haven't seen it yet you might want to let it pass.

My thoughts about the movie have focused themselves on Elsa, and the transformation she undergoes through the movie. As is natural for me, the thinking also translates itself to personal application as an aid for deeper self-understanding. So in the interest of streamlining and clarifying my thoughts, I will start off talking about Elsa and the changes she goes through, then include an aside in the end for how it applies to me.
Throughout the course of the movie, Elsa undertakes a journey of self-discovery that traces several different steps, progressing from a limited understanding of self and low interaction with others, until she gains a full understanding of who she is and how to use that to help others. The first stage in her progression is the stage I like to call "I don't want to build a snowman." Having discovered the danger inherent within her abilities, Elsa withdraws from all, even her sister. This is the proto- stage of her development, as she traps herself inside her own fears. This is no better description of this stage than the lines she herself sings in dreading anticipation of her own coronation:
"Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, put on a show
Make one wrong move and everyone will know." 
Unfortunately, it would seem that this, the "I don't want to build a snowman" stage, is the stage she spends most of her life in. It is characterized by placing higher value on the opinions of others of her, rather than on her own self-evaluation. This leads to an exaggeratedly high level of self-restraint (well demonstrated by the lack of contact with the outside world). She deals with her problems by avoiding them ("But it's only for today"). In this stage her attitude very much resembles ice: cold, distant, and untouchable.

However, as is wont to happen, that changes. Elsa's life shifts dramatically when her secret is revealed and she runs away, unable to deal with the fact that her control slipped. At this point, she is still in the first stage, her running away prompted by the avoidance aspect of her personality. However, while in the mountains, she progresses to a different stage, one I call "The cold never bothered me anyway."
The key to the transition between this stage and the previous one is the realization that other people's opinions and expectations don't need to govern Elsa's actions and attitudes. Again, this phase is well described by her own words:

"It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free"

Elsa is no longer driven by the cares and opinions of others, but she has overshot the mark. Her attitude now is entirely the reverse of what it was before: she values only her self-estimation. She has lost all restraint. She has found "freedom," but only insofar as she has progressed from an outward-dependent attitude to a self-dependent one. She is, on the surface, more confident, more able, but at her core she is still ice. The difference being that she displays different qualities of the ice:

"Beautiful! Powerful! Dangerous!
Ice has a magic, can't be controlled
Stronger than one, stronger than ten
Stronger than a hundred men!"

The irony of the "The cold never bothered me anyway" stage is that, while thinking she is control, in reality Elsa is completely out of control. This is evident from the altercations that proceed from her interactions with Anna, and the resulting loss of control that she experiences as she is taken prisoner by Hans and the resulting blizzard.
Indeed, there was only one thing that could get her to progress past that stage and into the final one, which I call the "Thaw the frozen heart" stage. It was accepting a true act of love. Anna's act of true love was genuine, and because of it she thawed. However, the change wrought in Elsa happened as she accepted that Anna truly cared about her, truly loved her. This forced a(nother) realignment in perspective. Elsa realized that she couldn't live her life aloof from the opinions and thoughts of those around her; that while she didn't need to be subservient to them, she couldn't completely ignore them, either. Her restraint was restored, but to a happy medium. She knows what she is capable of, but also has a more egalitarian approach to life.
This is because her sister's act showed her not only that she is loved, but it also thawed out, or unlocked, her own heart so that she, too, might love others. This is what brings about the biggest change in her, and what allows her to exist in this new, stable, state; she has learned to love. In a sense, Anna's act of love thawed out Elsa's heart, which in turn was able to fill with love for her people. She has learned to put the needs of others first, and allow those needs to permeate her existence. She is no longer buffeted about, fearing the judgments of others, nor is she so removed as to give no thought to what those around her need. It is this stage that she finally begins to find fulfillment, as she is able to serve and at the same time come into her own abilities and personality. It was necessary for her to pass through the other stages in order to reach this stage, but the key to reaching the "Thaw the frozen heart" stage was in accepting those acts of love which were done towards her.

"An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart."
A heart full of love will keep the frost at bay.

I classify this last stage the most "real" of all the stages. I think that, to some degree, it is the stage to which all of us are trying to get to. But it takes some doing, especially because for most of the time we are not aware of the journey as we are taking it. Perhaps part of the reason I was able to break Elsa's progression down like this is because I am seeing a similar pattern in my own life. Though I definitely came at it from a different direction. To not bore you with the details, I started realizing that I was not as focused as I would like to be on other people; I kind of go about my own life without much thought to other people. I set a goal for myself, a while back, to give more compliments to people, but it hasn't gone anywhere, mainly because I just don't notice other people. I'm sure there's something there regarding the way my brain processes information, but that's food for further thought. What really made this whole thing stand out to me was when I realized that as hard as it is for me to notice other people's good points, it is just as hard for me to accept compliments from others. So I started wondering if maybe there's a connection between the two.
This, combined with the thinking about Frozen, and Elsa's progression, made me realize that I am, to a degree, still too much in the "The cold never bothered me anyway" stage. I've probably been in this phase for almost the last two years, and it has probably intensified upon returning home from my mission. And just like Elsa, I was content to be in that phase, content to be "free." I was eager to echo her triumphant exclamation: "Here I stand in the light of day/Let the storm rage on." But I've realized that that's not enough. It's not enough to merely provide for my own needs, to "see what I can do," or to care only about my improvement. In order to accomplish a stable state of being, of self discovery, it is of paramount importance that I learn, as did Elsa, how to make sure that those around me are a vital part of my life. As what happened with Elsa, I have had many demonstrations of love shown towards me this past semester. No one turned into an ice statue in order to protect me from physical harm, but my friends have been invaluable supports to me in helping me get through hard moments, and even just sharing a meal and conversation. Little by little, those acts have been piling themselves up until I couldn't help but notice that for some reason, other people care enough for me to help me out. It's really a humbling realization, because I know that there's no innate virtue of awesomeness within me that just makes people want to be nice to me; rather, there are just some really nice and awesome people in the world (and luckily, in my peer group) who have already learned how to love and have helped to thaw out my own frozen heart.

Just as Anna's hands show the signs of her love and determination, my life is marked by the efforts of my friends.

Now, I still have a ways to go before I can magically create skating rinks in the middle of summer, but I feel confident that I know what steps i can take in order to progress to the "Thaw the frozen heart" stage. I can accept the acts of love that people offer me. I can pay more attention to those around me. I can reciprocate those acts with my own acts of service. I can listen better. I can lift those around me. I can take more time out of my schedule in order to spend more time with my friends. More than anything, I can trust in the guidance of the spirit, and trust in my Heavenly Father to help me turn my thoughts and desires toward the benefit of others. Contrary to what the trolls tell Anna: "People don’t really change," change is real and it is possible. Elsa underwent a lot of change in an effort to find out who she really was as a person and queen. Christ suffered the atonement to give us the real possibility of changing, of becoming better than we are. And as part of His plan of salvation, we are all here on this earth together, with opportunities all around us to serve and love.
Consider this a public recognition of my best groups of friends that I had the opportunity to meet this semester, and with whom I am excited to return this coming year. As with the doors of Arendelle, I intend to not close myself off to the world again.
As always, thanks for reading!