As a ‘90s baby, my childhood was filled with colorful Lisa Frank folders, oversized scrunchies and the animated TV show Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon, in particular, helped to shape me into who I am as a person, and even today you can usually find me out and about toting around my Sailor Moon merchandise because of my steadfast love for the series. She and her friends taught me incredibly important lessons, many of which I still use and apply to my daily life. Here are just seven values I learned from the show.
Your friends are your wealth.
Our friends are truly the family that we get to choose in our life. We can always depend on our friends to cheer us up, provide us with unconditional love and in Sailor Moon’s case help us save the world. As one quote I’ve come across puts it, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” There is truly nothing better than the support system of friends who will live, learn and grow with you as you embark on life’s adventures.
Love is your greatest asset.
Love isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the struggles. Sailor Moon had so many ups and downs with Tuxedo Mask throughout the series, but their love for each other reigned supreme and in many instances, it only strengthened Moon’s resolve to fight for justice and peace.
Strength comes in many forms.
Sailor Moon taught me that you don’t need to have super-human strength to be strong; sometimes being strong means overcoming self-doubt and persevering in situations where you feel like the only option is giving up. Inner-strength is the ability to persist and go against what life has thrown at you and to make the best of a challenging situation.
Everyone has a backstory.
Of course, motives of bad actions are no excuse for doing something awful. However, it does put issues in perspective when you get to know why someone would commit certain deeds. It also explains what events in their life have shaped them into thinking what they’re doing is justifiable.
Approach issues with compassion and empathy.
It’s hard sometimes to be compassionate and empathetic, especially with situations where rage and anger are prone to take over. By first seeking to understand and then to be understood, we will be able to avoid any miscommunication and figure out from where exactly a problem is stemming. Heated emotions can lead to physical altercations, but by calmly diffusing the issue with compassion and empathy we can avoid any unnecessary battles.
It’s okay to embrace what others perceive as a weakness.
One of the weaknesses I automatically associate with Sailor Moon is that she is too pacifistic. Some may claim that her desire to fight only when absolutely necessary isn’t that of a leader, but of someone naive and childish. However, I don’t think people realize how strong you have to be in order to choose the path less followed, especially when it comes to saving those you love. There have been quite a few times in the series where Sailor Moon was able to save her loved ones by simply embracing this “childish” quality and using it as her strength.
You can never have too much girl power.
One of the most important lessons Sailor Moon taught me was the value of girl power and the power of femininity. When a group of girls gets together, nothing is too far-fetched to happen (and yes, saving the universe is one of them). One of my favorite quotes from the show is so simple yet so straightforward about this concept: “Don’t underestimate girls!”
If you ever have the time, I would suggest doing a Sailor Moon marathon with the original Japanese version and watching it with English subtitles. There was so much that was censored and left out in the edited children’s version that most of us associate it with today. However, you’re never too old to learn a few life lessons, even it’s from a nostalgic television show!