Hello everyone. I guess I should start this blog off by saying welcome, or welcome back to anyone who may be reading this. I started this blog back in March of 2019 as a way to get my love of the Disney parks out into space. Since then the blog grew into other medias of Disney such as video games and I also added my home park of Six Flags Great Adventure to the mix as well. I was having a really fun time typing these up regardless of number of page views. After all a lot of people treat blogs like a journal. Somewhere to simply type up thoughts. Whether or not people read it at the end of the day is irrelevant as monetization, popularity within the Disney community, etc is not even close to the reason I'm doing this. That said I cannot say how much I appreciate everyone who reads these crazy thoughts and things I put out there.
Back in mid August I ran into a really dark time. I walked away from virtually everything. Eventually I walked away from this blog as well. When I typed that blog I mentioned that it wouldn't be a permanent departure, but for a while I honestly had no intention on returning. I knew I had to do something to try to get some joy back into my life so I actually started streaming video games on Twitch with the same philosophy as I have here. Just put it out there. If someone watches, comments, etc., great! If not that's okay too since I started doing it because it is something I always wanted to do more regularly. I've been streaming stuff mostly on the Nintendo Switch, but have the ability to stream all kinds of consoles which is where my gaming life has largely always been so I've been very excited about that. Then something else happened.
When news broke of all the entertainment layoffs at Walt Disney World something kicked back on inside me. Like many, many other Disney fans my heart broke and continues to hurt for all of those entertainers whom had brought just an untold number of smiles to people's faces both young and old. I was angered that the company had restored the salaries of it's executives yet more and more people are being let go by the company in a time where not only is a pandemic gripping the world, but a time where many other smaller companies are doing all they can to protect their employees livelihoods. I get it's older news now, but for the first time in months I had the urge to jump on and just type. I didn't act on it though.
Since then I've kept thinking and realized how much I had fallen off the train with all the things I really enjoy in life and really how lucky I am to have them. Yes, I found a new way to enjoy gaming, but the rest remained out to lunch as we like to say in the vet world. Several Disney movies remain wrapped and on a shelf. My Disney Parks playlist sat with no plays since early September and outside of Hamilton, I couldn't remember the last time I even listened to Disney music. I didn't visit Hallowfest at Six Flags once (partially due to where I was, but also it was basically sold out) either. I basically lost most of my identity. I also started to really look at how fortunate I am.
With all of this realized I am now here. The term on the mental mend is probably the best way I can describe myself right now. As I type this I have the Disney Hits Spotify channel playing in the background and I cant help but feel comfortable (outside of When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2... Auto-skip). I guess the whole point of this blog is that I am coming back. It's probably safe to say that I will not be doing a ton of blogs to "catch up". I probably wont be diving right back in to any big projects either, but just starting out small and building back to those projects.
To close this out I just want to say if you are going through a really tough time in your life... a time where you feel just completely alone with no one to turn to, or that no one would care just reach out. Reach out to a friend, a family member, or a group on the internet. You never know where you will find someone who will just listen and offer an encouraging word. It doesn't sound like much, but over time those words begin to take a hold and the world slowly becomes less dark. It may not happen fast. It may take weeks, months, who knows (months admittingly for me). I'm not trying to say what has been said a million times over by experts or anything like that. I'm typing this because I am living it right here and now. So hold on. Go the distance. Let your life begin (again) cause at the end of that day no one, not even yourself knows how far you'll go. On that same page, if you think a friend is not doing well, say something. Not everyone is able to bring themselves to be that person to reach out (me) and may need that hand extended first. You never know what you can save by doing that, and if you are a friend of a Disney cast member who has been recently let go, I implore you to reach out.
Thank you so much for reading and for the first time in a while, stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!
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