Patrick Gordon- Landscapes Of The Sacred The Power of Memory

Last year, I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to live and work at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando Florida. I was a Kilimanjaro Safari driver in the Animal Kingdom, on of the best jobs in the whole resort. Not only because I got to drive around and point out 35 different types of exotic African animals every day, but also because worked with some great people who quickly became life long friends. For the four months I was there, I had a rule that I would never go in to the park by myself. At the time it was because, I always had a great group to go in with! Plus only people who didn’t have friends rode the Dumbo ride by themselves. But what I realize now is that there is ultimately a deeper reason that may have subconsciously influenced me to adhere to this personal rule. Belden C. Lane writes “our attachment to any place arises from what we experienced there and, subsequently, from what we retain of it in our memories”. In light of this quote, countless areas and rides became special and, through remembering the great times I had, I have permanently attached myself to Disney. The greatest example is the show in the Magic Kingdom called Mickey’s Philharmagic. This cutsie ride, intended for younger children, transports the audience (in 4D) right in to the middle of such rousing musical numbers as; Be Our Guest, A Whole New World, and I Just Can’t Wait to be King (to name a few). I’ve seen this show at least ten times before it happened; the red cushioned movie seats, 4D glasses, and playful animatronic ending resembled a place of mere topos. When I took my girlfriend for her first time, this place suddenly changed. I found a whole new, even magical, enjoyment from seeing her face light up as we were “shot at” by champagne corks and “splashed” by bucket toting brooms. I enjoyed every second of it. I knew, at that moment, the Philharmagic show had become something special to her and I, a newfound ritual on our trips to Disney, a new place of chora. To think if I had gone in by myself that day I would have rode it and experienced it the same way. Thus, by going in on day trips to the park with friends, it truly possible for even a place as plastic and (dare I say it) tacky as Disney World to permanently attach itself to me and vice versa; not only through inhabiting such a place, but also through the power of remembering it.