Week 2

This is my favorite source of lighting of all time. I am sure all of you have ventured to Disneyland after dark when the entire park is finally lit up and have found yourself mesmorized by the castle. This picture was taken on January 3rd, which was the last day that the Christmas decorations were up, and I found the castle to be even more gorgeous than ever. Disneyland does an excellent job of drawing the attention of it's guests to this castle. It is located directly in your line of sight if you are walking down the middle of Main Street, and, particularly at Christmas time, there are strings of lights and garlands lining this street and essentially creating a path toward the castle, which of course remains the brightest thing of all.

On this particular night, my friends and I saved seats in front of the castle an hour before the fireworks show started to make sure we got a good spot, and I had no problem admiring the castle for that long. It may just be because I am a huge Disney fan (who wishes she was a Disney Princess), but I always find this castle to be a great source of inspiration. No matter how stressful life gets due to school, work, family, etc, taking a trip to Disneyland with a close friend or two and just stopping to look up at this castle gives me an immediate sense of calming and I am able to momentarily forget about all of my troubles. The sky around it is so black in contrast that you can't look away from it. It is so brilliant that you can't help but feel a moment of empowerment as you gaze up at it. It just allows me to again recognize the beauty of the simple pleasures in life. It is so easy these days to get too wrapped up in things like grades, tests, and auditions, that we lose sight of the joy and wonder that just being alive can bring. Anyway, before I get too swept up, my point is that Disneyland uses lighting all over its park to create this world of fantasy, to provide us with an escape and live up to its title as the "Happiest Place on Earth."