Blue sky is where dreams take flight and imagination knows no bounds. But how does one get there? The answer is simple enough, though I’m guilty of forgetting it frequently. Inspiration is the fuel necessary to carry you up into that big beautiful sky. It can come in practically any form and need not always be sought after, but sometimes… sometimes it does need to be sought. Life has a way of getting repetitive and that repetition has a way of dulling our senses. We stop picking out the nuances that contain a spark of inspiration. The only real way around this is to deliberately break the repetition. It involves investing some time in yourself. It involves exposing yourself to culture and, if I may borrow a phrase from Don Hahn (a huge inspiration to me), it involves filling your bucket. You would never expect your car to run without gas in the tank. Why in the world do we expect to create works of beauty or achieve our dreams if we don’t fill ourselves up with the inspiration necessary for creative ingenuity? I believe that in order to live a life you’re proud of, you have to, at some point, stop telling yourself the lie that you can’t achieve your dream. You have to get up and do something to make it happen. Even if you don’t yet know what your dream is, which is okay, the very best place to start is to spend some time searching for inspiration. It might come from the pages of a book, scenes of a movie, a crescendo in a symphony, quality conversations with friends or family, the quietness of solitude, an unfamiliar setting, a scenic walk, time spent with God or a truly perfect piece of chocolate. It really doesn’t matter where you find inspiration, so long as you find it and find it repeatedly. Before you know it, all of that inspiration will overflow into something worth sharing with the world and the world, in turn, will be inspired by you.
Pillars in the Mist
The way that the Grizzly River Rapids fill up with mist at night is incredible. Instantly you are transported to some remote mountain location where hot springs abound. The best part about it is the mystery. Shapes and figures can become whatever your imagination allows.
California Gold
Of the hundreds of photos I’ve taken of Grizzly River Run, this day, with it’s billowing clouds, had to be the best.
Morning at the Mill
Grizzly Peak is kind of like the Sleeping Beauty Castle of California Adventure for me. It’s that iconic piece of the magic puzzle that you always find yourself drawn to and that you can immediately identify and associate with Disney. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is either. There is always something majestic about it. When we first started taking pictures around the Disneyland Resort for this crazy idea we had for a web site dedicated to Disney pictures, Grizzly Peak is what I tried to capture the most. I have probably racked up well over a thousand images of this man made mountain since. This was one of the first.
The Redwood Challenge
Off the beaten path in California Adventure’s Golden State, you can get yourself into all sorts of trouble in a redwoods themed challenge trail. From climbing over things, to under them, to through, there’s no lack in variety of ways to potentially hurt yourself. Of course you may just find yourself stuck inside one of those redwoods, which offers you this chilling challenge… okay maybe not. Finding a way out isn’t all that rough, but you may not want to leave too soon. It’s another peaceful place for some adventurous diversions.
Finding the Great Outdoors
Sometimes it’s hard to decide what you want to do on vacation with such limited time to get away. Do you go to the beach? Do you go camping? Do you go to an amusement park? Do you travel somewhere exotic? You really don’t have to decide if you go to the Disneyland Resort. It has a bit of everything from the beach feel of Paradise Pier to the exotic mystery of Adventureland to the great outdoors of the Golden State. It makes all that vacation planning a little easier and the experience makes for a magical, relaxing adventure.