Have A Magical Day!

So, here I am, back from a week's holiday at Disneyworld, and everyone I've talked to believes that Disney is the most Magical place on Earth. Magical has many meanings.
In the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, magic means : an inexplicable or remarkable influence producing surprising results; an enchanting quality or phenomenon; producing surprising results, like those attributed to magic; wonderful, exciting, fantastic.
I agree with all of those definitions, but I wouldn't necessarily peg Disney as the most magical place on Earth. After all, remember that with magic comes illusion, or rather, delusion.
It's the colours, the lights, the costumes... the grandiosity of Disney that makes its visitors believe in magic. The parks are filled with larger than life experiences that sweep people away to different parts of the world, in the case of Epcot, or remind us of what it was like to be a child at the Magic Kingdom, or even allow you to get closer to nature with Animal Kingdom. The setting is electric, that's for certain, if you focus solely on the accomplishments of Walt Disney. He's created a playground to match no other. But to me, it's like the Hollywood Studios Theme Park: it reeks of commercialism and extravagence, all of the qualities that give North America a bad name.
Now I get it. Holidays in general demand a get-away from daily life. A vacation includes kicking back, following a different schedule, and just doing what you want to do when you want to do it. Disney is all of that, and more. There's certainly nothing mediocre about a trip to Walt Disney World, which is why it's seen as such a magical destination. This make-believe land takes you so far away from your daily life that you don't have a chance to think about anything else but fun, Right? Well, as I looked around, the fun was definitely there, but so was the eating, and the complaining, and the criticizing, and lots of it. And waste. So much waste. And bad manners or none at all. People taking advantage of the abundance before them without considering others around them. There was so much excessive behaviour that I found this trip distracted from the Magic. Everywhere I looked, excessively large people were devouring excessive amounts of food and discarding excessive quantities of garbage, and behaving badly to boot. Moderation is not part of Disney's vocabulary, and unfortunately, this destination exemplifies the American culture. While I enjoyed my fun-filled holiday, I was ashamed to be participating in and supporting this outrageous behaviour.
The people of Haiti and Chile, for example, are struggling for their next meal while we are flaunting the fact that we have so much by eating everything in sight, and not for sustenance, but to satisfy a craving, or fill a void.

So, what do we do?

I'd like to think that we are mindful of our good fortune, and keep in mind that this life is not real. It's a temporary distraction from our everyday lives where we can focus on the needs of others. Sure, we all need to get away from the things we consider stressful. Stressful is a relative term, depending on where you happen to live. Being thankful, and generous, and courteous shows respect and appreciation. I'd like to see more of that quality when I travel to places like WDW. Or anywhere, for that matter. Being mindful that we are blessed, and being responsible enough to realize that such experiences and opportunities are to be appreciated, not expected.