100 Days of Wonder – #95
Hope. Disney gives me hope that a better world is possible. That might sound completely bonkers. And maybe it is. But Disney tells good stories – whether through its films, series or in the parks. Of course historically some of them have been hugely problematic and some continue to be a long way from perfect. But more recently Disney is trying to do better, tell better more inclusive stories. Doing better and trying harder is always cause for hope. And the more hopeful the stories the more inspiring and impactful. Maybe telling good stories helps us change the world for the better.
Disney understands suspending reality and the need for escapism and magic. And the more we can give ourselves over to that every now and again, the better. It helps us remember what hope feels like, what could be.
As I said yesterday, I am struggling a little with depression. It’s not really bad and it is easing. Today was better than yesterday. I am trying to look forward to time spent believing in the magic and maybe joining Peter Pan for a flight towards the “second star to the right, and straight on till morning.” And somehow that helps because depression tells one set of stories and Disney helps me tell a different set of stories that are at least as likely as the narrative that depression would have me believe. So Happy New Year. May 2025 be full of beautiful, brave, mundane, every day stories that help you believe in your own magic.
100 Days of Wonder – #94
Depression is a funny thing. I haven’t really felt it for a while. If anything I have struggled more with anxiety than with depression but I always know that it can come back. It barged in yesterday with its stories and exhaustion and it is lingering like an unwelcome house guest, giving no indication when it might leave. In some ways it’s ok. I know what this is. I am better at dealing with it than I used to be. It doesn’t mean I am unhappy. It means I have a brain full of stories about how I am not very good at anything, too fat to run, failing on all fronts and generally not worth bothering with. It also means I am a sort of tired that sits in your bones. I don’t want to do anything. I can’t actually rest either though because resting is just proof of my laziness. Why now? I don’t know. No obvious trigger and I am hoping that the black puppy won’t stay long. That it will come, tell its stories, realise I am not really listening and move on.
In the meantime I am slowly beginning to take down Christmas and make new memories ready for next year as I place things back in the Christmas box. I am also taking myself to places in my mind where the depression rarely follows: Disney World. Several times today I have imagined the walk from the Contemporary Resort to the Magic Kingdom. Every time the mix of memory and anticipation, because in a week’s time I will actually walk it, has brought me joy. The black puppy just sits waiting for an opportunity to remind me not to be in any photos because I’ll just look horrible and fat. It’s waiting to inform me that I won’t make it round the Dopey Challenge because I am useless and that I am probably best just staying in Florida because the work that awaits when I get back will be too hard anyway… So let’s just let it sit there, spinning it’s stories. We can tell a different one with every step we walk along this path:
100 Days of Wonder – #16
Following yesterday’s post on Fun, I thought it was worth tackling something I haven’t covered yet in this series. The photo is of me and Eyore. We have something in common. We both suffer from depression. Disney has been critical in helping me manage my depression. The escapism when actually there helps hugely to completely re-set my brain but it is more than that. The planning for a trip gives me focus and a way to immerse myself in the escapism in the run up to a trip. The photos I can scroll through (or flip through in the photo books we have created) allow me to reminisce and reflect and to create some of the Disney Bubble at home. Sometimes we have Disney Days where we watch a sunrise series on Disney Plus drinking coffee from our resort mugs, ‘go on’ a ride or two with the help of YouTube and re-create some of the food options we like from the parks. My depression is now pretty well managed and I am very aware of my triggers and the signs it’s coming. I can’t always stop it but I am better able to escape to Disney literally or metaphorically and re-set. Depression for me is about brain overload and not being able to process properly so embracing Disney films and TV series that require no brain power, escaping to the familiarity of Disney characters and enforcing rest (for the brain rather than physical rest) – and allowing the inner child time to play are my antidotes. Understanding that my love of Disney is not silly and childish (in the bad sense) or ridiculous but something that is an important way for me to look after my brain because it nurtures the creativity, story telling and imagination that lights up my soul has been a really important realisation in my depression journey and it, alongside running (more on that in another post), has made staying mentally well much much easier.
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