Disneyland’s 60th anniversary celebration festivities are fast approaching and I can feel my excitement growing by the day. It’s not so much for the bedazzled castle or even the promising nighttime entertainment. It’s simply for the milestone.
CONTINUE READINGSleeping Beauty Castle Rose
Reflections of a castle and a rose.
Continue ReadingThe Castle at Magic Hour in Disneyland
There is nothing like walking across the bridge beneath the castle at magic hour in Disneyland. Some people seem to think that because Sleeping Beauty Castle is smaller than castles at other Disney parks that it’s lesser than them. I can’t speak from experience with those castles but I don’t believe any of them could match the charm found here at the heart of Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom.
I feel like a child when I look up at these golden spires. I feel like anything is possible. I feel like there is good in this world worth celebrating, worth holding onto, worth fighting for.
When I look at this castle, my imagination runs wild and I am inspired with the audacity of hope to take up my sword and conquer the Maleficent dragons in my life, those fears that try to keep me from pursuing my dreams. Inspiration and hope can do that. They can bolster your courage to the point of boldness and downright tenacity.
This castle has stood here for nearly sixty years inspiring men and women of all ages, races, nationalities and creeds, trying to reconnect them with their wide eyed, unblemished youth so that they’ll dream again.
The Beauty of Morning
There’s a passage in the Bible that says “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” It’s a thought that I’ve meditated on for over a decade now and I finally feel like I’m beginning to understand its truth. The setting of this shot may or may not look familiar to you, it was One More Disney Day. The park was closed at this, the twenty-fourth hour. I waited intently and very patiently to take this, something I’d planned for a long time. The park was packed… like sardine status packed, for the entire night. There was definitely some weeping as people were passed out on benches and, oh heck, the middle of Main Street. It was another scene entirely as morning came.
Morning has always held a special place for me. The quiet and the sunrise are so peaceful, so filled with promise. Weeping may endure for a night but it cannot rob us of the joy that comes with the morning if we don’t allow it to. Life isn’t easy but we have to leave the past behind so that we can seize the potential of a glorious future. If we’re not careful to remind ourselves of all that is good and beautiful, the bad contaminates our thoughts and hope is lost to cynicism. So if you’re having a bad day, just remember that tomorrow is a new day and that joy comes in the morning.
You matter and you’re loved,
Matt
Sleeping Beauty Sunset From Fantasyland
I’d like to apologize if you’ve had a hard time with the site loading. We transferred domain name hosts and that caused a hiccup in our site linking through the web correctly. Everything should be back to normal by now. If pictures don’t load for you, try refreshing the page a few times and that should do the trick. As for tonight’s picture…
I am a firm believer that the backside of Sleeping Beauty Castle doesn’t get the credit it deserves. There’s so much detail. On the evening I took this, I was really taken by the way the sun just kissed the spires; it was very romantic and delicate, which is sort of how I view Fantasyland. There’s a lot of love tucked into a very small, intricate space.
The Beauty of Christmas
Christmastime is one of those times that has a way of making you stop and look inward to see how things are going. Sure there’s the hustle and the bustle as well but with hope and warmth and love saturating so much around you it’s hard not to find a moment to see how your life matches up to these virtuous themes. Disneyland is a perfect place to find such a moment. Mine was standing right here, at the entrance of Sleeping Beauty Castle, all aglow with her Christmas attire. Contrary to what that plentiful picture takers behind me must have thought, I was not trying to photo bomb their images. I just wanted to capture mine.
This year has taught me a great many things, the most important of which is to value the people around me. It’s a common thread in Christmas cards, movies and music. Sounds easy enough and I thought it was a lesson I had already learned. But I realized that my actions weren’t showing the people around them how much I care about them; how much they mean to me; how my life wouldn’t be the same without them. I’ve allowed myself to become busy with things that when seen by the light of day, pale in comparison. The thing is, it’s an easy rut to fall into. The sun rises and it sets. Each new day brings about any number of mundane responsibilities that need tending to after which you grow tired. When such things have bogged you down, there are no spirits of Christmas past, present or future to visit you in the night and point you in the right direction. Should you recognize such things on your own, there’s no angelic chorus that sings overhead. There’s no big drama about it whatsoever. It’s up to you to wake up every morning and decide that your actions will show the people you love how much you care about them, tired or not.
But, you know, the good thing is that as long as you have breath in your body, it’s never too late. You can change. You can set out in a new direction and should you fall, you can learn to pick yourself back up again. The beauty of Christmas is not the things, the food or the time off but the loved ones we share them with.
Wishing you the most beautiful Christmas…