DREAM IT! DO IT! DISNEY!

Dream it! Do it! Disney!

This slogan was drilled into me when I started my Disney College Program training in Orlando in the summer of 2012, and I still believe it. In a world that says here’s your box, stay in your lane, stick to the status quo, I say, if you can dream it, you can do it! Here are a couple of my favorite quotes back to back, “The glory of God is on display in a human being fully alive. Don’t ask what this world needs; instead, ask what makes you come alive and do that. The world needs people who are alive.”

When I graduated from high school, I had a desire to go to film school, but chose not to. I love Disney, imagination, the creative process, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, little details, and creating worlds for people to play in. A good story can tap into all our senses and move us to tears, action, and love. You feel the magic when you catch yourself smiling from ear to ear when a moment of love or joy happens on a screen. Our true self craves relationship, not a transaction; mystery, not self-gratification; love not fear. I have lived a lot of my life in fear. I wonder if fear is an illusion, an illusion I’ve bought hook, line, and sinker. I wonder if I’m more fearful of the light (love) and what that might cost me more than the darkness (fear).

Marianne Williamson wrote, “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, NOT our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be, brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously allow other people to do the same. As we are liberated from fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Two summers ago, I had the opportunity to work on the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis video “Downtown.” They needed help, Ryan Lewis and the director Jason Koenig were friends, and I finally had the chance to work on a real movie set, so I said, “YES!” I was a lead production assistant, a flashy title short for coordinating 12+ YL leaders, a ‘work crew’ in YL terms, to keep people away from snapping videos/pics, which was an obvious challenge, and serve the talent & production crew. We did all this with a smile! I learned so much through this experience about the film industry and about myself. My first real full-time job was with Young Life, and I’ve been on staff for 9.5 years now. Before volunteering on this video shoot, I thought that Young Life was the only job in the world I could do. What a lie! I watched the “big time” roles people had in the film industry play out in front of me, and I found myself helping them problem solve and praising the Lord for my job with YL that has prepared me in so many ways that I believe I could do anything now! I’ve started to write (scripts, musicals, skits, books) and dream big dreams to use further exercise my gifts. This experience has taught me that YoungLife is a choice. I get to choose Young Life, not just view it as the only job I can do.

We come alive when we chase our dreams and allow our passions to push the world forward in love. We are simultaneously liberated from our fear and reflect that light of liberation to others so that they can shine too!!

Here’s to the ones that dream! Thanks for listening.

KJ