The gift of being present doesn’t stop at the berm

Christmas dinner was an interesting adventure this year. The conversation inevitably turned to the pandemic and speculation about when all of this may be over. My eight-year-old daughter, upon hearing this discussion, informed us that she will be throwing a HUGE “Coronavirus is Over” party when it’s finally safe to do so. She raced out of her seat to grab a piece of paper and a pen and promptly started her planning of said party right down to what kind of cake or cupcakes mom should make, the guest list, and the party games.

I looked at her with a combination of humor and horror… It was a bit like looking in a mirror and seeing the saddest part of myself. That in the middle of a lovely moment filled with family and peace, the tendency is to rush onto the next big thing without fully appreciating what’s right in front of me.

Our minds often like to take this vacation, and not necessarily in magical ways. We get so wrapped up in looking to what could or will be that we neglect the here and now.

I know I’ve been guilty of this even while touring Disney… it’s so easy to be in line for a ride and be creating a mobile order for food, checking wait times, or checking “done” for steps completed in your touring plan. It feels efficient, and productive, instead of just standing in line.

But those moments of waiting are missed opportunities. Pre-pandemic, I remember standing in a slow-moving line in the hot sun for 45 minutes to meet Sally and Jack Skelington for my sweet daughter who was obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was surrounded by hot, sweaty people who could have been downright crabby given the situation. But instead, a pair of friendly ladies behind us struck up a conversation. While tempted (as an introvert) to withdraw into my phone and rearrange my plans due to the long wait throwing off my perfectly-planned schedule, instead we tossed Disney tips back and forth, admired each other’s Disney bounding outfits, and saw a glimpse of each other’s stories that we never would have bothered to get to know if we had chosen to think about the future instead of the now.

Everything about the Disney parks invites us to be present in the moment. From fully-immersive experiences like Flights of Passage to the simple delight of waltzing down Main Street USA with a bag of fresh-popped popcorn, the Imagineers have truly designed a counter-culture level of existence where you’re meant to be right where you are, with no need to worry about tomorrow.

Isn’t that exactly what we need right now? When we can’t know what’s around the river bend, and the bare necessities have been scarce to come by, we’ve alternately been terrified to think of what’s ahead while also desperately planning for what we think it might be. It’s, quite frankly, exhausting. We’re a worn-out people, taught that being worn out is the only way to be in our brave new world.

Disney is an escape from all of that. Even in times when we don’t need to think about masks, sanitizer, and vaccines, Disney has always been a place to enter into another world simply by stepping through the gates. Suddenly you’re surrounded by an immersive experience designed to truly make you be present with those around you and to embrace possibility to the greatest extent possible.

Have you ever walked into Disney and just taken a deep breath? Maybe I’m alone in this, but there seems to be a reset that happens in my mind when I am in the parks. I stop worrying about all of the tiny, tedious details that plague me in my every-day life and instead shift my mind to fully absorbing the sights, sounds, scents, and glorious experiences around me. Disney is our place to our down our expectations and embrace what is… if we let it.

You see, there is a letting go that happens at Disney. A surrendering, if you will, of our carefully mapped out plans, even with those who are the strictest type-A touring plan followers. Because there are moments that draw you in, bringing you to a state of complete presence that is sadly lacking in our everyday lives. Some of my best memories aren’t necessarily the magical experiences I spent months organizing and orchestrating… they are times when my daughters accidentally stumbled upon tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter. Or when I sat on a rocking chair on Main Street USA on a whim and people-watched for a while. Or when my 18-month-old son spent 20 minutes climbing up and down the front steps of Mickey’s house because he was learning stairs for the first time. Nothing existed at that moment except seeing the joy on my son’s face as the delightful hum of Toontown reverberated around me.

It’s this complete surrendering that we need bottle up and take home with us long past our time in the Disney parks. To put down our phones and take a deep breath in, absorbing that which is right in front of us for the taking. This gift of being in the here and now does not stop at the berm… we don’t need visual barriers between us and our to-do list to be fully present right where we are.

*Spoiler alert… if you have not seen the movie “Soul” yet, skip to the next paragraph!* The new Pixar movie Soul beautifully illustrates this concept of truly seeing the world, not just rushing through it or wishing for a different life. Joe couldn’t see the impact he made on the lives around him because he was too busy looking for the life he was building in his mind. It led him to lost opportunities, alienated relationships, and an overwhelming sense of discontentment, all because of his lack of awareness of where and who he is meant to be. He was living in the future and lost his life one moment at a time because of it.

And this… this is what I told my daughter about around the Christmas dinner table. That it’s time to put away our planning for what’s ahead and enjoy those who are near us, right now. Because every moment we get with those seated at our table is a gift, and we don’t want to miss unwrapping it because we think a better present is ahead.

What would your life look like if you lived in what’s happening today instead of thinking about what you’ll do someday? I love to plan my next Disney trip as much as the next Disnerd, but embracing playing dolls with my youngest or enjoying conversation with my husband is where my life is actually lived. What would it take for you to be fully present in what you’re doing today?

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