Finding wonder when you need it the most

I’ll be the first to admit, this year has left me a bit jaded.

All the constant changes, the battlefield that is social media, and the challenge of re-learning how to live everyday life has taken a mental toll. So much so that when I pulled out my Christmas decorations this year, I didn’t feel like putting up half of them.

Even Disney is tinted with sadness as all our hopes for Disneyland reopening seem farther away than ever with new lockdowns and mandates.

Where is the magic in all of this? How do we find wonder in a wonderless reality?

As I was watching The Santa Clause with my kids this past week, I ran into a scene with Judy the Elf talking to the new Santa Claus that struck a chord with me…

Scott Calvin: I stopped believing in Santa Claus a long time ago.

Judy: That’s not surprising. Most grown-ups can’t believe in magic. It just… sort of grows out of them.

From “The Santa Clause”, 1994

I feel like the magic has grown out of many of us this year, myself included. It’s hard to see the light at the end of this tunnel when the darkness is so… dark.

However.

If Disney has taught me nothing else, it’s that there is hope and joy to be found even in the darkest situations.

In Beauty and the Beast, Belle found herself trapped in a dungeon, facing a desperate situation, isolated and alone. And yet, through persevering and choosing to engage with those around her, she found not only a castle full of friends but the unexpected anomaly of a love she never thought possible.

The Beast himself was trapped (albeit by his own selfishness) in a hopeless situation until he learned to change and adapt. Then… light. A whole ballroom full of light. And eventually, a castle full of life and light. But he had to go through the process of learning to love and surrender that love. It must have looked pretty dark in that hour. (Not to mention fighting a whole hoard of pitchfork-waving villagers and an ego-clad Gaston who, no doubt, was a reflection of his former self.)

Maybe we are having a Beast moment. We may not feel like ourselves, or who we used to be. Nor are we quite who we will become yet. It feels like we are slowly watching each petal drop from the rose, wondering what will come next.

I remember sitting in the Be Our Guest restaurant not long ago watching the snow swirl around the window outside. Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and enjoying the cool a/c after a swelteringly hot morning in the parks, I gazed at the snowflakes drifting down with complete awe and wonder. That I could be in one situation one moment and in a completely opposite one the next was wholly unfathomable.

Disney catapults us often into this realm where we can believe the unbelievable. It gives us moments that go beyond “how did they do that?” to actually immersing us in the story to the point where we can believe it’s real, even for a moment.

Even when we’ve grown out of believing.

And that, my friends, is how Disney helps us find wonder. True wonder, like the kind we used to have on Christmas morning. Or what we experienced with our foreheads pressed up against the cold glass of the car window as we gazed at beautifully illuminated houses while Christmas carols crooned from our stereo speakers.

Wonder is not lost. It’s found in every firework boom above the castle at night. It comes to us as we fly over London in a pirate ship, escape the clutches of the Empire, or perch upon a white horse on the carousel feeling age six again no matter how old we may be.

And it can remind us that there is so much light in this world if we choose to look for it. Certainly, there will be a happy ending at some point, but in the meantime, in the here and now, we can laugh with Timon and Pumbaa while in exile. Go on an adventure and find a chocolate-loving bird and another lonely person who needs a friend like we didn’t think we did. And maybe even discover, like Marlin, that we are braver and more capable than we think, no matter how desperate our circumstance.

But I want you to know that those times when you want to throw yourselves down and weep (like all the classic princesses do)… it’s ok to have those moments. To feel like you’re gazing through the looking glass at an alternate reality you never asked for, and wish you could put the mirror down and walk away. And it’s also ok to virtually plan a Disney trip you may never get to have, or make your 60th at-home Dole Whip.

I’m also going to be ok with only setting up half my decorations this year. Because sitting in a dark room with just the light of the Christmas tree chasing away the shadows is more than enough.

So here is my challenge to you this week.

Find your wonder.

Whether it be with a cup of hot cocoa and a roaring fire, or a drive around the neighborhood for old-time’s sake, there is wonder to be had right now, right where you are, at the end of what has been a very (very) long year.

So the question is, what can you do, even here, today, right where you are, to draw those moments of wonder close to you when the darkness feels oppressive? And what Disney moments have brought you such awe you will never forget them?

Let me know in the comments, or better yet, call a friend and ask them these questions. They may need someone to remind them that there is still wonder left in this world, and where to find it.

May your week be wonder-filled and overflowing, Disney friends.

– Kate

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