Princess Di
Sometimes I am prompted by something someone says and use it for my BLOG. This is one of those times. Today I saw a post on Facebook with a picture of princess Di and a post that asked about how others felt about her, hence the subject for my BLOG today.
I remember falling asleep in my kids room one night after watching some television on their TV. I woke up in the middle of the night frightened and not sure why. I look at the screen of the television that I left on and there was an announcement about Princess Di having been in an accident. Moments later it was announced that she had died. At first I thought I was dreaming and that what I was hearing could not be real. It was as though I had been shaken up in the middle of the night and had to gain my balance and mental state. My heart immediately wanted to be in denial and for a few minutes I thought that maybe there had been a mistake or that I was hearing it wrong. Princess Di could not be dead.
Shortly before her death I like millions of others had heard she had met a wonderful man who she seemed to be enjoying the company of. It looked like she had finally come out of the other end of the system that seemed at times to not allow her to be completely herself and do what she felt brought her joy. In the meantime her husband was openly in a relationship with a woman who I frankly thought was completely unattractive, not that looks are everything. I could not help but to be upset that at a time when this kind, generous and loving woman found her prince she had to die. It was unfair but most of all it was a tragedy. A beautiful young woman who survived the watching eyes of a royal family dies after she falls in love.
I felt compelled to read her book after she died, possibly before. I know that one cannot believe
everything one reads yet there were things in the book I found disturbing and that book truly drew me to love Princess Di and her work even more. She struggled with emotional issues and it felt as though others did not acknowledge her, witness her or see her struggle. Instead what it seemed like was the it was concealed. On top of her emotional issues once she realized she wanted to move on in her life, the royal family seemed to go into automatic control mode, attempting in every way to ensure that what she said and did would meet their approval and not make them look badly. For me the fact that they tried so much to control her for so long was telling of the type of over the top rules they live by. It even seemed to turn into a contest as to who was the most humanitarian or wonderful person, her or her Prince Charles? In a word, it felt so ridiculous.
Princess Di was one of the first people who championed for children with AIDS. She was instrumental in clearing up the myths around how one could get aids at a time when people were still panicking and even going so far as to be outright rude and unfeeling towards other with the desease. Princess Di kissed those children on national television and showed everyone just how silly it was to be in fear. I remember being brought to tears when I would see her in the mix embracing children who needed that kind of love. I will never forget it and that was only one example of the kind of
person she was. Even I looked at the work she was doing and felt more confident about the fact that AIDS was not the threat that others had depicted it to be based on their hatred, fear or darkness around gay people. It was her work that helped every person out there to address the epidemic without fear and with some compassion.
I think Princess Di was a unique person and at the same time one of those people who had a huge impact on the world. I believe that she got us to think about what it is like to be a part of a royal family and still live a life with some form of integrity. It pains me to think how complicated her life was yet she turned it into something beautiful. She did not allow others opinions and control issues to control her all the way to the end.
Coach Elliott
I remember falling asleep in my kids room one night after watching some television on their TV. I woke up in the middle of the night frightened and not sure why. I look at the screen of the television that I left on and there was an announcement about Princess Di having been in an accident. Moments later it was announced that she had died. At first I thought I was dreaming and that what I was hearing could not be real. It was as though I had been shaken up in the middle of the night and had to gain my balance and mental state. My heart immediately wanted to be in denial and for a few minutes I thought that maybe there had been a mistake or that I was hearing it wrong. Princess Di could not be dead.
Shortly before her death I like millions of others had heard she had met a wonderful man who she seemed to be enjoying the company of. It looked like she had finally come out of the other end of the system that seemed at times to not allow her to be completely herself and do what she felt brought her joy. In the meantime her husband was openly in a relationship with a woman who I frankly thought was completely unattractive, not that looks are everything. I could not help but to be upset that at a time when this kind, generous and loving woman found her prince she had to die. It was unfair but most of all it was a tragedy. A beautiful young woman who survived the watching eyes of a royal family dies after she falls in love.
I felt compelled to read her book after she died, possibly before. I know that one cannot believe
everything one reads yet there were things in the book I found disturbing and that book truly drew me to love Princess Di and her work even more. She struggled with emotional issues and it felt as though others did not acknowledge her, witness her or see her struggle. Instead what it seemed like was the it was concealed. On top of her emotional issues once she realized she wanted to move on in her life, the royal family seemed to go into automatic control mode, attempting in every way to ensure that what she said and did would meet their approval and not make them look badly. For me the fact that they tried so much to control her for so long was telling of the type of over the top rules they live by. It even seemed to turn into a contest as to who was the most humanitarian or wonderful person, her or her Prince Charles? In a word, it felt so ridiculous.
Princess Di was one of the first people who championed for children with AIDS. She was instrumental in clearing up the myths around how one could get aids at a time when people were still panicking and even going so far as to be outright rude and unfeeling towards other with the desease. Princess Di kissed those children on national television and showed everyone just how silly it was to be in fear. I remember being brought to tears when I would see her in the mix embracing children who needed that kind of love. I will never forget it and that was only one example of the kind of
person she was. Even I looked at the work she was doing and felt more confident about the fact that AIDS was not the threat that others had depicted it to be based on their hatred, fear or darkness around gay people. It was her work that helped every person out there to address the epidemic without fear and with some compassion.
I think Princess Di was a unique person and at the same time one of those people who had a huge impact on the world. I believe that she got us to think about what it is like to be a part of a royal family and still live a life with some form of integrity. It pains me to think how complicated her life was yet she turned it into something beautiful. She did not allow others opinions and control issues to control her all the way to the end.
Coach Elliott
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