My Carpool Buddy Has Past Away

For the past five and a half weeks, I have been carpooling with this man Walt Disney. Actually, I have been listening to his biography on CD. I was there when he was born, when he trudged through snow to deliver papers, when he was an ambulance driver in WWI, when he was betrayed by a producer of his, and I was there when he created Mickey Mouse, days after the betrayal. I have learned a lot from this man and what made him so extraordinary.

1. He worked hard. Too hard in fact. In the 1930's he suffered a nervous break down.
2. Never took" no" for an answer. Even if money was short and people said it can't be done, he did it.
3. He took risks, far greater than I have ever done.
4. He believed in himself and what he could produce.
5. He thrived under pressure.
6. He failed a lot, but didn't let it discourage him.
7. He made profit only to shove it back into his creations.
8. He was in constant debt, taking personal and bank loans, refinancing his house, and taking money out of his life insurance policy. He did all this until the day he died.
9. Always dreaming new dreams.
10. He knew how to tap into US archetypes.
11. He feared death. I think that is what drove him to create.

I drove past Disneyland several times throughout the listening, and I felt a deep connection with the past, a strange haunting connection that felt very real.

While I was sitting in my car with the last CD spinning in my player and the actor reading the book, I felt an intimate connection with the man. During his last days he was frightened and in pain. He was a mere mortal that accomplished much. The story was written so well, and I was so engrossed with his life, I felt like he died in my Mazda 3. I was sincerely sad.