How a simple tree can help to build dreams |
If there's one global empire that's known for creating magical childhoods and making dreams come true, it has to be Disney. With its animated masterpieces, iconic characters and world-famous theme parks, The Walt Disney Company is without doubt one brand that remains as universally recognised as it is successful, and as lucrative as it is widely loved.
But Disney really is so much more than just a corporation. It's a hub of creativity, magic and make-believe. A company of like-minded people whose job it is to inject the world with fun and keep everyone thinking 'young'. And it all started out with a mouse and a man who loved to dream.
Walter Elias Disney, better known simply as Walt Disney, was someone who didn't let anything stand in the way of his vision. He helped to shape the entertainment industry as we know it today, and over the course of his career played the role of animator, film producer, director, screenwriter, entertainer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. And lets not forget voice actor for perhaps one of the most famous fictional characters to ever hit the screen - Mickey Mouse.
But above all else, where Walt Disney really made his mark in this world was how he was constantly striving to always turn the impossible into a wonderful reality.
"It's fun to do the impossible", he once said.
While Paul Cameron - Treehouse Life's founder and chief dreamer - might not have reached quite the same levels of success and worldwide domination as Disney (well not yet at least), he certainly shares his philosophy and vision. Like Disney, he is more than a little in touch with his inner-child - a wonderful quality that helps him to overcome the impossible, design from the heart and create dreams with nothing more than a pencil and a bright idea.
While recently perusing some Treehouse Life business opportunities In Kansas City, Paul had the chance to soak up a little Disney magic first hand. Whilst he was there he visited Marceline, a town just north of Kansas City where Walt Disney spent much of childhood - a place that Disney later said gave him some of his happiest childhood memories. One in particular was his favourite boyhood spot that he fondly called his 'Dreaming Tree'.
Many years after leaving the area, Walt and his brother Roy went on a journey back to Marceline and re-visited his beloved 'Dreaming Tree'. Perhaps he wanted to say a few words of thanks for all of his dreams that had already come true, or maybe he was looking for the inspiration for some more.
While the Disney brothers were visiting Marceline they stayed on a local farm and took the room of the young girl who lived there. This girl later went on to become a guide at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, where she still works today. Paul got to meet her and hear first hand the story of Walt Disney's visit, as well as see the picture below of Disney and his Dreaming Tree.
Always on the lookout for some extra inspiration, Paul took the opportunity to visit the Dreaming Tree himself whilst he was there, and spent some quality time sitting in the very same spot that Walt Disney had whiled away his time, day-dreaming about talking mice, fairytale castles and magical fantasy worlds.
Although the tree is now old and gnarled from all that lightening that's struck it over the years, it still remained a wonderfully inspiring place to sit and quietly contemplate the world.
Of course Paul would consider all trees a thing of great beauty, but this one in particular was that little bit extra special. Not only did it have a wonderful history and story attached, it also had an unmistakable energy and air of magic about it. So who knows, perhaps some of that unique Disney creativity will have been passed on to Paul and help him to keep building his own Treehouse empire.
Impossible some might say, but hey, you never know. After all, Disney as we know it today did all start with just a mouse, a man and a dream, and as Walt Disney himself said, "If you can dream it, you can do it".
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