Read on Twitter
I wish I'd thought ahead and recruited a group of former Disney castmembers to do a Zoom Candlelight Processional this year. I really miss it.
It was also this really impactful event in my life. If you know my origin story of getting to CA you can skip this thread. If not... 1/
It was also this really impactful event in my life. If you know my origin story of getting to CA you can skip this thread. If not... 1/
The Candlelight Processional was one of the highlights of my years working for Disney. I finally got up the nerve to do it in 2001 after the world went sideways and I figured out that I had better start living a better life and do the things I only talk about doing. 2/
And it was wonderful. After 9/11 we were all so broken and the CP healed us all. For two months we rehearsed in the former Millennium Village built the previous year. Me and several hundred others singing in the cavernous space. 3/
Most CMs would be in the tree in the center of the stage, with the tallest person at the top. We had crazy battery-operated collars with lights and held candles.
But if they had extra people and space on the rafters, you could still join the school choirs flanking the tree. 4/
But if they had extra people and space on the rafters, you could still join the school choirs flanking the tree. 4/
And most people did it to get free tickets to the park (usually one day/one park tickets but I was a 'blue ID' meaning I was a salaried employee, so I had a silver pass. I didn't need the tickets. I think I gave most of them away. I just liked being in a choir again. 5/
And we got to sing with such amazing people standing in front of us reciting the Christmas story -- Phylicia Rashad, who they had recorded just a year earlier for the CD they released (and the main thing I listen to at the holidays). Gary Sinese. Peter Graves. So many others. 6/
I know that Disney cast have been through a lot this year. My heart goes out to everyone who has worked or does work for the Mouse. I thought the downturn in 2001 after 9/11 was bad -- I got demoted. Far better than fired. Of course, I didn't survive the recession of 2009... 7/
... but that's another story. And I was already out here on the West Coast by then, so far removed from the annual tradition at EPCOT. I haven't been back to WDW in 11 or 12 years and it's crazy how much I know has changed since I was there. 8/
But the thing that never changes are the people who work there. The collective enthusiasm and joy everyone working in the parks and resorts to bring a little magic into someone's day. It isn't 24/7 for everyone but those special moments keep you going. 9/
And yes, some of you saw earlier this week that I was once a park employee too before I became an I.T. drone. I loved that job. I worked 4 10 hour shifts a week and sometimes OT when I could. And I worked during the holidays. I loved it. 10/
It was my first real dream fulfilled. One I'd had since I was a kid enjoying the parks... I wanted to work there. And it took three tries, but I finally got into the college program. And then I got the dream job to work there after college in my chosen field. 11/
When I moved to Florida after college it was harder than when I had been rooming with 5 other girls in a 3 bedroom apartment at Vista Way. I had very few friends. No family. I was really alone. And that's really when my depression emerged in a big way. 12/
I don't shy away about talking about my depression and now my ADHD because they are part of who I am and I'm not ashamed that my brain is just wired differently. But I didn't know how to get help for about 4 or 5 years living in Orlando until a friend told me I should. 13/
Once I did, everything started to get a little better. I was still depressed, but I was managing it. My panic attacks subsided. And I re-discovered my passion for writing. And I learned screenwriting on my own and loved it. And then 9/11 happened... 14/
And the Candlelight Processional was the literal light in the darkness I needed to see me through that time. And once out the other side, I was prepared to move into a new chapter in my life. One that became clear in January 2002 when my paternal grandmother died. 15/
That's when @TheJulieBenson and I decided to move to Los Angeles. I didn't know how I was going to get there. She flew out here and slept on a friend's couch, someone she went to Columbia College with. I went back to Florida and plotted and planned... 16/
... in July I flew out to meet her and we rented an apartment at Park LaBrea. I paid rent for a few months before I actually moved. A few weeks later I saw an ad in Creative Screenwriting (which I was now subscribed to) for a new Screenwriting Expo in L.A. in November. 17/
And there was a work opportunity I was pursuing that would get me working in Burbank but it was moving glacially slowly. So I made a plan. I packed a huge roller duffle bag with as many clothes as I could stuff in it, my suit bag (because I was a corporate drone, remember)... 18/
And I flew out to L.A. for the Expo. And stayed at "our" apartment.
I made a deal with my boss that I could work from Burbank (remote work pre-Skype!) and he approved it. He knew I wanted the job that was opening up in January and was supportive of me. It all went to plan. 19/
I made a deal with my boss that I could work from Burbank (remote work pre-Skype!) and he approved it. He knew I wanted the job that was opening up in January and was supportive of me. It all went to plan. 19/
I never went back... after I had been officially hired into the new job in Jan I went back for 2 days to terminate my lease, meet the moving truck for my second Disney-paid relocation and say goodbye to coworkers I hadn't seen in months. 20/
And I couldn't have been happier. I usually tell this story around 9/11 because that was the catalyst. But 2020... it's easier to talk about this stuff a few months later, as I think about what lifted the darkness then. Candlelight. 21/
What will lift the darkness now? L.A. is in a (sort of) lockdown again. The predictions are for things to get worse, not better and it will be months before most of us will even get close to taking the vaccine. It's there on the horizon but it's still out of our reach. 22/
We have to lift each other up and out of the darkness. There's no better time to cut everyone around us a break and forgive than now at the holidays. It's been hard to be on social media much this year because I get overwhelmed with how emotionally charged everyone is. 23/
I promise to be a source of positivity and light, certainly as much as I can be for anyone who needs it. Tweet me and I'll send you a virtual hug or some words of encouragement. We've made it this far through the pandemic, we can keep going until we're in the clear. 24/
And if anyone wants to just get on Zoom and sing the Candlelight Processional program, hit me up. I sang second soprano/alto but am flexible. #disneycm4life 25/
