Oriental Goddess-Express: Being a Kid Remorselessly

I love being a kid. It feels so good and so much fun.

I have never believed anyone who has even remotely tried to convince me that when we get older, we lose our light heartedness - that adult life is about jobs and bills, responsibilities, discipline, self-growth and defining our personalities as individuals. May be it is but then light-heartedness is too big a price to pay for the adult life in exchange!

Lose my light heartedness because I´m 26?

For as long as I can remember, anyone who knows me even passably well would have invariably experienced the kid in me. It just shows J Whether in romantic references to the Disney princesses and princes until today or speaking in baby voices or making faces which draw their inspiration from no-one-has figured-out-where, the kid in me seeks daily expression for its nourishment and I am happy to oblige it.

I also have vivid memories of the sleepless nights I spent between the ages of 6-10, putting my head to my pillow and letting my mind run wild with imagination - dreaming of Rapunzel´s hair falling down from the castle tower, and what fun it would be to possess a Genie for myself and if only I could dress in Cindrella´s ball gown and meet a handsome prince. I confess feeling jealous too of those kids in school who got to visit Disneyland and I spent hours wondering what it would feel like to be in that magnificent castle of the princesses that always sparks with fireworks at the beginning of all Disney movies. Needless to say, it was a life´s dream come true and I had to scream, scream, scream with joy when I was told my birthday present from my husband was a trip to Disneyland in Paris.

The day started very early and I felt free and chirpy – just the way I like it. The first look of the castle brought a smile to my face. It was magnificent and looked so real. I could feel my body tingling with sensations of happiness, memories from childhood and just that great, great feeling of receiving something you have so much craved for.

Joy. Dreams do come true! :)

The rides in the park were fun too! I loved the Big Thunder Mountain that went bumping around a modelled mountain mimicking the Grand Canyon. I also felt particularly impressed with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride – it had a most splendid display of pirate mannequins and recreation of their lives on the sea and in their villages. Our boat splashing into the water was the added adventure-adrenalin bonus!!

Woa !

However, for me, you don´t visit Disneyland for the rides. You will get better ones any day at Six Flags over Georgia (I remember my crazy xxx thrill rides in the summer of 2009 in Atlanta City). You go to Disneyland for the characters … to see your imagination come alive and dance and frolic before you. Hence, for me the most exciting and moving highlight of the day was the “Magic Everywhere” parade of the Disney characters that lasted about thirty minutes with all famous Disney characters, dancing and parading before us.

Being there in that moment felt so alive. I excitedly pushed my way through hordes of people standing before me, waiting to catch a glimpse. Paradoxical as it may seem, the characters felt so real, it gave me goose bumps. Cindrella, Snow White, Simba and Pumba, Alladin and Genie, Goofy and Mickey, Chipmunks and Peter Pan – were all right before me, riding their chariots with their princes or riding their own display wagon with wonderfully recreated environments of their movie stories. The music, the dancing, all felt so professional- all so well done. I stood there so present in the moment, spell bound watching them, not minding the rain falling on my head - their gorgeous outfits, their grace, their mannered gestures, their capacity for fun … I felt the same love swirling up for them in my belly, perhaps slightly more than it did when I was 6. A lifelong dream had come true. I had to cry some tears of joy. This was too beautiful an experience.

Note- Imagine some pixie dust floating in the air and all of these characters that you see still in these pictures, dancing and telling you to celebrate the magic of life … its everywhere!

After the parade, we took a rollercoaster ride called Space Mountain. It was pretty disgusting, gave me a headache and made me feel puky. However, for his love of space policy, my husband loved it!

By 9pm in the evening, our bodies had given up from the exhaustion of the day´s frolic but our spirits could soak in more joy. Although 11 pm seemed far away with the rain and our wet clothes and me feeling cold in my skinny shorts, we braved it out to stay back for the spectacular end of the day – Disney lights and sound show - at the castle. And it was so worth the wait! For 20 minutes Disney spectacles you by presenting a show of its characters using the castle as a screen – with sounds and lights and an ultra-heavy display of fireworks. I believe you have to be there to know how it feels. For me, I cannot describe it… I felt so quiet… so amazed…so struck by what we humans can achieve through our rich imagination … I felt thankful too … even though for just a day, I was in magic land and it was all true.