Walt Disney was a very unusual student. When his elementary school teacher asked the class to sketch the flower vase she placed on her desk, young Walt sketched it with added arms, legs, and a smiling flower at the top. His teacher scolded him again and again for not paying attention to her instructions to just draw the vase! Walt courteously listened to her complaints but continued to draw what he saw in his vivid imagination. Years later, animals, plants and objects with human voices and attributes became a Disney trademark.
By age twenty, Walt Disney was hired to draw cartoons for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. Within a short time he was drawing cartoons that moved but they still didn’t move in the way he envisioned they could. He studied and worked tirelessly towards making drawings move in more graceful and sophisticated ways so they would have greater realism. These drawings and experiments took thousands of hours to perfect.
Disney was the first person to sell the idea of having a cartoon open for a feature film. As a door to door salesman, he sold cartoons by the linear foot to local movie theatres. Most theatre owners didn’t understand why a movie-goer would want to watch this new form of entertainment. Walt was not put off. His focus, determination, and passion for animation and creating laugh-out-loud characters won over all opposition and made him a legend.
Environmentalist John Muir was a severely abused child. His father beat him daily to make certain that John kept focused on bible studies. His mother died early in his childhood and his angry and bitter father was left with the responsibility of raising two small sons. Everyday John sought out the solace of Mother Nature to soothe his wounds and rekindle his spirit. He founded the Sierra Club, established Yosemite National Park, is responsible for the preservation of The Grand Canyon, and authored 12 books.
John Muir transcended his father’s abuse and became a dogged protector of Mother Nature. Disney’s successes, rejections, and failures fueled his passion. Nothing deterred his artistic expression.
What can we learn from these two men and from others who have a passion for life that we can employ in our own lives? We best serve the planet by the love and focus we put into our work, the kindness we express in all of our interactions and communications, the joy we share, and the creativity we express in all of our activities. As Gandhi once said, “Your life is your message.”
Find your passion in life and let it take you to new heights of self-expression and self-discovery.
John A. Tamiazzo, PhD Author of Returning to the Land of Oz at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Barnesandnoble.com in paperback, e-kindle, or nook editions.
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