Escaping to Disney World

My best friend is going to audition to be a face character in Disney World!  She is so excited about it; I don't think I've seen her this excited for an audition in a really long time.  Of course, as  a good friend I can't let her go alone.  Big auditions like that can't be done on a solo trip to the happiest place on earth.  Not to mention that for the past week, I too have been longing to go back.

At this point, I don't think I can count exactly how many times I've escaped there.  That's really the word for it.  Unlike any other vacation, DisneyWorld is an escape from the coldness of adulthood.  When I was a kid, I wanted so badly to grow up and make my own decisions.  I longed for that ever present knowledge that adults seem to have; they always had all the answers.  Now, whether I like it or not, I can no longer deny that I am indeed an adult.  Even the illusion that college kept me a kid is now long gone.  No, at the age of twenty six I can't pretend that I'm little anymore.

It's not like I envisioned though.  I don't know anything at all.  There aren't any answers, just questions.  More and more and more questions.  Probably some will never be answered and it's just so scary.  Not only that but I feel like everything I thought I knew is not what it seemed.  One of my greatest wishes was to do what I wanted and I don't know what I want.  Even if I did, that doesn't actually mean that I'll be able to do it.  The freedom I so desperately sought then was actually the time when it was really mine.  There wasn't any emotional baggage that impeded me or rules dictated by a society I never realized I joined.  Today, getting what you want seems like a pipe dream and no longer something that is actually possible.

I'm desperate to escape again.  To the world of childlike wonder and possibility.  Disney has always been able to provide that for me. I don't even care that it's this worldwide business behemoth.  It's design is to spread happiness, escape into a magical fantasy full of fireworks, dreams, and untapped potential.  Going there you can speak to people from multiple nations, view animals from across the globe, be whisked away on some incredible ride, and just forget about everything.  Forget about responsibilities, past failures, pain, and loss. Forget about the "should haves, could haves, and what ifs."  It's one of the few places where you can go to be that little girl who wanted to be a princess, find an unquestionable love, and fly away on a magic carpet to learn the secrets hidden within this world.   It still exists there within it's impeccably crafted designs and within all the young faces who surround you completely unaware of what lies ahead. I'm so utterly desperate for that kind of reminder.