#025 - Journeys - pt. 1

JANUARY 2022

I love traveling. It is one of the most exhilarating things a person can do—the unfamiliarity of the surroundings. Exploring new places, discovering things you may have never imagined, and doing it with people too - you learn a lot about the people you travel with. Some road trips become pressure cookers of emotions, while others secure and reinforce friendships for life. You can get lost on the journey of a road trip or be astounded and amazed by modern airliners and the speedy travel of the jet age. Perhaps in the future, if Bezos and Musk have their way, we will be rocketing toward new worlds and onto new adventures. 

The journey of mankind is one of triumph and failure but also one of tireless momentum. Just as the Earth trudges around the sun in its yearly journey, we, as a species, have done the same for tens of millennia. If you will excuse the idiom, generations of births, marriages, deaths, and cycles keep the ball rolling forward. Everything is interconnected, as most reasonably intelligent people can see, and this interconnectivity drives humans forward, either toward a common goal or toward conflict. The in-between periods are merely a rest from the inevitability of both.

But back to traveling - I am always concerned with the destination. If you are traveling, the destination is just as important as the journey. (Imagine boarding a plane to Bora Bora when it's landing in Anchorage. You would be thoroughly unprepared for such a destination.) My concern for my destination is why I tend to be obsessed with getting there- sometimes as quickly as possible. I love clear destinations. Crossing the finish line in a marathon would be another metaphor for a journey with a clear destination. Many leaders say identifying your “win” is a great way to identify your destination. But what if, bear with me, for I hate the what ifs, there is no clear destination?

What if you see this journey, this path, this unending quest with no end? No predetermined arrival time or landing strip secured. No one is aware that you are to arrive, and you are even unsure of the destination. But here you are. Seat on the plane, perhaps in a loyalty upgraded seat; what do you do? Do you read? Perhaps play a game to pass the time or write? Should I start working on a new project or start a new job? Do you stare out the window in useless and mundane boredom? 

Do you see how a destination is important to the journey? How would what you do along the way change if you knew the destination? How would you prepare? Would you just not start the journey? Would you falter at the beginning without a clear ending? So many questions come from journeys, but all begin with the same beginning. All of these are questions of how to occupy your time and distract from the road you are traveling. 

Imagine not knowing you are going to your favorite family theme park but are heading to Florida. You’re in the car looking around at the scenery, which is as monotonous as the video game you stopped playing. The bored child in the backseat asks his parents, “Are we there yet?” The parent retorts the same answer as the last fifteen times. The cycle repeats. There is no excitement in and on this journey, but it’s the journey most of us find ourselves on. Christians have a heavenly father we bug in real life. Heaven is the ultimate destination. 

So what do you do when you’re on life’s journey with seemingly no end in sight and no apparent destination, especially when the novelty of whatever you are doing has been lost? Nothing. It’s a lesson in patience. It’s a lesson in not letting this beautiful life pass you by. It’s an experience you were innately created for and a journey that you and the rest of us humans have been on for thousands of years. 

Don’t stop believing.

Before the world was connected, it was separate. Duh, Taylor. There was a lot of xenophobia and hate that caused a lot of wars due to relentless nationalism and ignorance of the commonality of our neighbors. I want to elaborate a bit because of the weight and profundity of such statements. When a person does not understand the people around them a basic emotion is obviously fear which motivates hate which in turn leads to a war beit an ideological one or physical war. All from a lack of understanding about what connects us as humans. Some from physical barriers such as mountains or large bodies of water, others from language barriers and cultural disconnects.

Sun Tzu most famously wrote The Art of War, an ancient war strategy book, on how to gain an advantage over foreign and, oftentimes, neighborly opponents. But even the great general has know-yourself - know-your-enemy rule, which is really what connectivity is about—knowing your neighbor who oftentimes may be your perceived enemy. For you to win the war.

In these modern times of connectivity, there is empathy towards our neighbors because there is now a shared humanity uniting us like never before. Through our shared global triumphs, we can find the cure for xenophobia and hate. Collectively, through our unique yet shared differences, we can create a tomorrow that we will all want to inherit as a species. It all begins with being a good neighbor, fighting ignorance with knowledge and truth, and uniting towards the common goal of all mankind, not just an elite few. This radical thought is not all that radical and is what Jesus came to do over two thousand years ago. 

But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. We’re talking about mankind's journey, not Christianity's, right? But Christianity is the journey of mankind, which is why humans have the tendency to never stop believing in this great, big, beautiful tomorrow.

There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow.

In terms of prolific American heroes and figures, Washington and Jefferson are thrown about almost instantly. Franklin or Madison in astute conversations. Or perhaps Hamilton because of a hit Broadway musical. When the lens, however, is shifted to American pop culture and those who shape it, the names of celebrities and Hollywood become the replacements for our founders or political leaders. Culture can be and is the driving force behind change and has become the legacy of any lasting nation for centuries. Greece is known for its theater, and Rome for its politics. Throughout the world, there are numerous examples of cultural legacies that leave historical footprints - mainly in the form of powerful mythologies. Paul Bunyon in the Americas. 

There was nothing uniquely special about what Walt Disney did, but the cultural legacy that this man created shaped one company and the modern America we enjoy today. When I was in Fourth grade and assigned a biography report on whoever I wanted, I chose Walt Disney. I know too much about the man behind the mouse and the legacy he created at the Walt Disney Company. Like most Walt fans, I admire the man who created a culture of collaboration amongst his coworkers and brought fairy tales to life in vivid Technicolor. What girl hasn’t dreamed of a charming prince, and what boy hasn’t dreamed of saving a buxom bride from impending doom? 

Now, the culture has shifted, and it is equally important to point out who is making the culture shift towards more egalitarian gender roles. This is the power of culture and why those who create lasting ones become immortalized, just like Walt Disney.

This, our Spaceship Earth

Disney knew he had influence and worked tirelessly to preserve American ideals that were uniquely ours as a country. Exploration and Adventure. Innovation and Technology. Ecology and Nature. Things that were born out of American culture and American ideals. These things Walt Disney cherished and expounded upon. Disney coined phrases like “Imagineering”  and “Edutainment” to package, promote, and sell American manufactured products invented due to consumer demand. Mega Corporations bought sponsorships of Walt Disney-designed attractions because they knew that if Disney did the attraction, they would see a boost in product sales. They also knew Disney would go to great lengths to create the best image possible of any product, which was gold to any advertiser. 

In 1965, the World’s Fair solidified Walt as an innovator in experiential attractions and a proud national of the United States of America. However, when placed in the lens of modern connectivity, the cultural byproduct of the era was often fraught with bias and stereotypes that negatively reinforced separation. Something that only comes to light when multiple perspectives are used to view the same medium. Shifted perspectives and a unified lens. While Walt Disney was merely reinforcing the social norms of the time, his legacy is often overshadowed by the negative effects that future shifts in cultural acceptability tend to have.

Disney was not worried whether or not future generations would view his content through the lens of the past culture that created it, only that they would be inspired to use the power of imagination, innovation, and inspiration to solve the world’s problems in our own futuristic way. Inspiration is a key to American prosperity. Something that Disney cherished and promoted. 

This is the power of a cultural legacy that shines as an example of a legacy that has changed the world. Millions of people have set foot on Disney property and have experienced the magic one man and a mouse created, and generations have shared that lasting culture with their families, friends, and neighbors. Isn’t that what this experience on our Spaceship Earth is? A combined journey of all mankind for the sake of each other. However, what Disney and most pioneers of culture do is ultimately empower people to drive their own destiny toward our (humanity's) shared destination. Toward a bright future and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.