A little inspiration from Walt Disney

Shannon Dittemore is the author of the Angel Eyes trilogy. She has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a love of all things literary. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days with her husband, Matt, imagining things unseen and chasing their two children around their home in Northern California. To connect with Shan, check out her website, FB, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Hello from Disneyland, everyone! I thought it would be incredibly cool to plop down at a table on Main Street, whip out my laptop, and actually blog from the storytelling capital of the world, but alas! Disneyland does not provide WiFi!

It does, however, provide endless moments of inspiration. 

So, from the bed in my hotel room, I give you this quote by Walt Disney.

"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."

Such a fabulous quote, right? And one that holds a rather special place in Disney's current fireworks show. I heard the words for, perhaps, the millionth time tonight and it dawned on me that they carry more meaning than I had initially given them credit for. 

Clearly, the Disney folks can and will continue to add on to their theme parks. They're not short on imagination and they have perfected the practice of bringing in top notch thinkers whose sole purpose is to IMAGINE. 

But the past few days have taught me to think a little deeper about Walt Disney's words. 

My daughter, Jazlyn, is seven and she's been to Disneyland several times. As you can imagine, it's quite the experience for her. All princesses and fairies, fireworks and parades. And we've lucked out because she really likes rides as well. Even the big ones. Even the ones that scare her. 

Except . . .

This year, I'm not entirely sure what's happened. Some form of common sense must have kicked in and she realizes, now, that she's not immortal. And that awareness has made her a little skittish. Rides that she's ridden oodles of time have suddenly become terrifying. Teary-eyed terrifying.  

When she started weeping--seriously weeping--at the idea of climbing onto Grizzly River Run, we got to work concocting an origin story. That's right. An origin story. Jazlyn and I talked our way through the fictional scenario that led to our NEED to climb into a gigantic inner tube and float down some moderately frightening rapids. It went a little something like this:

The gigantic wooden bear at the front of the ride looks nice and friendly, right? HOWEVER, if you do not keep him full of salmon, he turns exceptionally vicious. Mickey Mouse asked Jaz and me to see that the bear got fed. BUT! While we were heading off to snag a few fish, a group of BAD GUYS stole our fishing rods and flung them into the river. We were left with absolutely NO CHOICE but to go in after them. I mean, if we couldn't find our rods, we couldn't feed the bear. And if we couldn't feed the bear, he just might eat all of Disneyland. And we could not let that happen.

Silly, yes? But it worked. Jaz climbed onto the ride and then, it became a thing. We brainstormed our fictional origin stories for The Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain and California Screamin' and, even though she wasn't afraid of it, we have a great little backstory concocted for Thunder Mountain Railroad as well. She was having so much fun making up stories, the fear got shoved aside and she was able to enjoy the ride with the rest of the family.

Disneyland is, in huge part, full of experiences that take you inside the imaginations of others. But, as storytellers, we're fooling ourselves if we think our readers can entirely divest themselves of all their baggage when they dive into our tales. We can make them forget for a while, sure, but the best stories, I think, acknowledge that readers bring their own lives to the page. 

Every reader has a history, adventures that have brought him or her to our fiction. And that means magic happens every single time a reader opens the cover of a book. 

Because none of our origin stories are the same. We each bring our own imagination, our own fears, our own hang-ups and hardships to the things we read. The story will not, cannot, touch every reader identically. Our experiences our unique. 

So, while Jazlyn and I may ride Grizzly River Run so that we can find our fishing poles, feed the bear, and save Disneyland, YOU undoubtedly will experience those rapids in an entirely different way. 

And that's not just the magic of Walt Disney. That's the magic inherent in every imagination.

Jazlyn's imagination, her childhood fears and the stories that helped her overcome them, became a part of Disneyland this week. And I think Walt would be proud. I think he knew something every storyteller would do well to remember.

Stories help us conquer our fears. It's never "just a book." If it's a good one, if it's doing its job, it's much, much more.

Tell me, how has fiction helped you conquer your fears? If you're not sure it has, think on it some. I bet stories have moved you more than you know.