Monday, 9/18/06
Our sound off topic for this week asks “how do you keep the Disney Magic alive in your everyday life and when dealing with those folks that didn’t get the Disney gene?” Tell us what you do to spread pixie dust when away from Walt Disney World or Disneyland?
Here are the $25 Mandara Spa gift certificate winners
from this week's Sound Off. Congratulations!
I like to spread the Disney magic at my workplace. (I don't need to do it at home- everyone pretty much is a Disney fanatic like me!)
I manage a local animal shelter, which can be an emotionally difficult job to do. I have added a touch of magic by including Micky ear staplers, tape dispensers, and pen holders. There are pictures of Cinderella's castle and little Mickey Mouse icons on our computer desktops at work. My staff even got into the Disney spirit and threw me a surprise birthday party, all themed around Disney.
I am leaving for my next Disney vacation at the end of September. My staff thought it would be neat if we named all of the homeless pets that come in during the month of September after Disney characters, in honor of my upcoming vacation!
I truly believe that ever since I introduced my staff to the simple joys of Disney, their spirits have risen and it seems to act as a stress-reliever for the staff. That's just fine with me, as I am a truly a Disney fanatic!
Shelly Simmons
Ohio
I teach 7th grade English so I need a fair amount of pixie dust each day to energize me and keep the Disney Magic with me on long days when Cindy's castle really does feel like it's a milllion dreams away. So I adopted Tinkerbell as my mascot about 10 years ago. I shared this with my students when I started teaching and now my desk area and wall behind it have become a Tinkerbell shrine! I have everything from figurines to stickers to hand-drawn pictures of the little fairy from past students. My screen saver rotates between Tinkerbell and the castle, becoming an object of pleasant conversation whenever a student stops by. Our class motto is, "All it takes is faith, trust, and a little pixie dust," which combines all the logic we teachers promote in terms of their overall success, with a little Disney Magic! The students know me for my playfulness and whimsy, and even the boys warm up to power of the pixie when I get out my Tinkerbell wand to wave some much needed pixie dust over them on test days. All of this allows me to keep the magic alive in my everyday hectic life of middle school teaching. And what kid wouldn't connect with a teacher who just hasn't completely "grown up"?
Kassi
Zimmerman, MN
I'm a nurse in a critical care CCU and I find that many of my patients have been to Disney and enjoy reminiscing about their journeys to the world.
I had a patient about a month ago that as soon as he saw my Minnie Nurse pin, started talking nonstop about his trip in June with his 20 year old granddaughter...it made him so happy that he forgot about his declining health and had a smile that could have lit up the castle. This 66 year old with a bad heart, bad kidneys, and a poor outlook had just been there in June and rode everything with his granddaughter from Splash Mountain to Expedition Everest and became a kid again while he was telling me about all of his ride, dining, and character adventures.
You see, Disney really is good medicine!
Christina Barnes (aka "Bzzelady")
Danville, Pennsylvania
