Earth Support

From time to time we take a moment to think about how the music of Walt Disney World, and the wide Disney songbook, affects our perception of attractions and experiences. Far less often, we consider what role this music plays in our day to day lives. From those loops we put on in the background of our office while we work or at home while we clean, then there are the actual lyrically inclined songs that are quick to call up memories. But what about the times that a song, an old favorite or a new track, that comes to us at just the right time to make an impact in our lives?

As I’m sure is apparent to just about every longtime reader of the Main Street Gazette, I’ve been battling through a rough balancing act over the past six months. A new position at work has eaten away at the time that I used to have for writing, personally and for the Gazette. It’s taken a toll on the high standards I hold myself to for the Gazette, but it should be the reason or the excuse I use to account for the lack of dedication I have shown here. The day job, which begins long before the sun rises and long after it has set, hasn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped it would either. For the past couple of months I’ve been trying to figure out if I needed to reduce my role with the Gazette in order to make my other position function more to my liking. I had hit a point where I couldn’t find a path forward and something was going to have to give.

Last week, I was away for a couple of days at a staff retreat where I found answers. Answers to the concerns and questions I had and answers to questions I hadn’t even asked myself. In addition to some incredible speakers and sessions that reinvigorated me and gave me tools that have, and will continue to, help me unlock my values I just happened to take time to listen to a copy of the Horizons soundtrack. The combination of all of these stimuli made all of the right pieces just fall into place.

I’m not certain how much you want to hear about the amazing speakers I heard, but let’s look at what I took away from the Disney influence of those couple of days. The Horizons soundtrack begins with New Horizons, the song that issues a proclamation that dreams do come true. It also claims that, “today holds the challenge to make this world a better place to be.” Then you come to Great, Big Beautiful Tomorrow playing in the tomorrow of yesterday scenes, this also picks up on the, “man has a dream,” theme.

Whether I am working as an educator, or directing the efforts of educators, or in my work with the Gazette and other sources in the Disney community, the belief that I am working today to make tomorrow a better place is the one thing I have clung to. No one ever said it was going to be easy, no one ever said I was going to be able to change things overnight. It takes work to create change, it takes effort to find the bright spot in all scenarios. All of these thoughts wandered around in my head for several days, and continue to merge together and pull apart coming up with new avenues and new ideas to explore.

My new outlook on my professional life, both within the organization I spend my days with and the Main Street Gazette, and all the other opportunities both of these open up to me, has a lot to do with who I am and the reminders that both external and Disney forces have presented me with. It doesn’t change who I am, or my dedication to continue to give all parts of my life one hundred percent, they were just nudges back to where I needed to be. After all, if we can dream it, we really can do it.