Magic

I started this blog as a way to reflect on and write about my life. I know it is of little interest to many people, but there are a few who do read and comment from time to time. I sincerely appreciate those people. But there is one thing that I have not written about here.

This thing I speak is by no means the most important part of my life. Not close. Still it is something that you might say I am passionate about. It is part of who I am and because of it has brought some of my closet friends into my life. It has provided countless hours, days, weeks of enjoyment. It inspires. It also causes a few people to ask why.

This thing is Disney. I love the films and the music. I am drawn to art and the process with which it is created. I could visit the parks over and over and still find the magic. Disney is imagination and it is inspiring. It is motivating.

I will not write a lot about Disney in this blog; I have another venue for that. But I did want to share this, knowing that I Gerrie and I are there with some of our grandchildren as you read this.

What is it that keeps me going back? Forget the time and the expense involved. What is the basic reason? Well, there are two.

First, it is magical! I remember my first visit in the Spring of 1972. The only park then was the Magic Kingdom and it was still very new. My mom and dad took my sister and me. I was in the ninth grade. My grandfather and grandmother were also there. I can’t remember everything about that day, but I do remember the first time I rode Peter Pan’s Flight. It is something that I’ll never forget. I remember being amazed at hearing Peter say “Off to Never Land” and then rounding the corner to fly over London. All of those tiny lights were magical to me. I was transported to another place and another time.

Now, all these years later, hopping aboard a flying ship and sailing over London and in to Neverland is one of the first things I do on every visit. It is also one of the last things I do. It is a reason why a copy of Peter Pan is always on my nightstand. I never set back during the ride. I am always on the edge of my seat. 

A few years ago three of my grandchildren and I boarded a flying ship. When we flew into Neverland my grandson said, “Look Papa, it’s Neverland!” Earlier this year, riding the Disneyland version of the attraction, I gave out an audible gasp as we flew into Neverland. It was marvelous! 

We all know the story of Peter Pan; the boy who never grew up. As J.M. Barrie put it, “All children, grow up, except one.” If we are honest, there are more than a few of us who wish we were that "one." And while we manage the world just fine, we are still trying to find our way back.

This is second reason for why I keep going back. For those few days that I am in the park, I am ageless. I am not an overweight middle-aged man. Instead, I am the boy who can fly or a pirate sacking the village. I am a skipper navigating tropical rivers, a passenger aboard a runaway train or Tom Sawyer looking for the paintbrush. Being in the parks moves you to a different place; a place with no pressure, no worries, no deadlines and it is okay to eat ice cream for breakfast. For a few days the real world is held at bay and you exist in a world where imagination is free. 

As Willy Wonka would sing,

     “There is no 

     Life I know 

     To compare with 

     Pure imagination 

     Living there 

     You'll be free 

     If you truly 

     Wish to be”

And this is what Disney is for me. It is a place where I can be free. It is a place where I can be child again. Where I can play and sing and laugh and cry tears of joy, because that it what we’re supposed to do.

Truth is, we should do that more frequently, no matter where we are. It is just easier there.

So, I’ll keep going back. My hopes to travel back to England and France and to go to other places I haven’t been may make these trips a little less frequent. Yet still, I’ll keep finding ways to get back. When I do this it is my way of living out something I shared with my son when he was boy. I said, “Son, as you grow to become a man, please remember the little boy that lives inside you and bring him out to play from time to time.”

I believe in practicing my own advice. 

~ Greg