Let’s talk about rain.
It’s raining right now in Orange County. I am the happiest lady. I thought I loved rain growing up. But the longer I live down in eternally sunny Southern California, the more I realize that my affinity for rain growing up was nothing compared to the way I feel about it now.
Now I do want to start by saying I appreciate and am grateful for the life I’ve cultivated in this endlessly sun-kissed part of the world. It is nice to never have to factor weather into whatever plans I make unless it comes to hiking in the summertime.
There does come a time after a while, though, that those perfectly gorgeous days just all kind of…… blend together. And when the weather stays pretty much consistently warm until mid-October (only to start it’s return again early February), it creates the perfect environment for a seemingly never-ending summer day. Which is great for a while. But I love when the days are broken up by clouds, and storms, and the feelings of a true winter. I love the sound of the rain against my window as I curl up in my bed and listen to it as I fall asleep. I love the mad dash from my car to work and then back again that makes me feel like a kid again. I love when the weather every so often gives me the emotional permission to let whatever I’m feeling metaphorically catch drift on the puddles that form from the downpours and wash away with the LA storms that seem to come and go in the blink of an eye. I appreciate when the weather decides to empathize with some of the storminess I tend to feel.
I will admit, though, there was a brief time when I was less keen on rain than I care to admit. When I was working at Disneyland on The World Famous Jungle Cruise during my first holiday season with the resort, I felt like my childhood dreams came true when I got to be outside in the rain all day….. and I got PAID to do it! Just for a little insight into where this excitement stems from, I would like to let you in on the fact that I used to run around outside in the rain during lunches and recesses with my friends in junior high and high school. I remember one day in 8th grade, my friend and I danced outside in the rain between finals and then proceeded to take our science final completely drenched but completely ecstatic. And that persisted into college, where I distinctly remember an old college friend putting on nice dress and dancing in the middle of a freak rain storm with me while we blasted Taylor Swift. The appeal has always been there, and I hope it always stays with me.
So, Disney in the rain working my dream job seemed too good to be true.
Because it was.
I mean, there were some fun days at first: the parks were empty and the people who braved the rain were usually some of the nicest, kindest people. Rainy days also sometimes meant I got to go home early, which is always enjoyable. But especially at jungle cruise, there’s a special appeal to commandeering/captaining a bad joke cruise with only the most willing of passengers as you all explore the jungles of the world with only some bad khaki, worse jokes, and your sense of adventure to keep you safe (you know, for the whole seven and a half minutes you’re out in the Disney wilderness… but safety is still key, nonetheless).
There were a good few months that I really loved Disney in the rain. Even when I started to feel more miserable working in the rain, I still allowed myself to be overcome with the joy my younger self would have felt knowing I was working at Disney in my favorite weather. And I could usually maintain that until one very key thing occurred: my shoes soaked through. Once that happened, it was game over. I was tapped out. All I wanted at that point was to throw my feet under a dryer and wrap myself up in my blankets at home in my bed. That’s when the appeal would wear off. It was emotionally brutal.
But since leaving Disney, I’ve completely regained my love and admiration for the rain. I love the way it makes me feel, physically and emotionally. I still will walk around/dance outside in the rain when given the chance. And I am ALWAYS here for the Hilary Duff jam sessions that inevitably come when the sky “let’s the rain fall down, and wake my dreams…”
Just as long as my shoes don’t soak through.
Heart Matters 