Inspiration: Puff the Magic Dragon

Watch this movie!!!!  Especially if you're a fellow artist

Have you ever re-watched a favorite childhood movie and discovered that it had influenced you more than you ever realized?  Recently I was arguing with a friend about the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" (he mistakenly believed the song was about pot.  IT ISN'T!!!!) and I brought up the 1978 animated TV special that was based around the song.  I'm not quite sure how this movie came to be in my possession.  Come to think of it, I'm pretty positive I stole it from the Berlin Public Library.  Either that or they gave it to me because no one else ever rented it and I practically wore out the tape.  I couldn't stop watching it.  There was something about Puff that made me feel like no matter the circumstances life dealt me, everything would be ok.

A lot of children's movies are very clearly written by adults who have forgotten what it's like to be a kid.  As we age, we tend to lionize our childhood as some sort of perfect time when the world was simple and small, forgetting how lonely being a kid can be.  I felt that isolation more so than other children.  I was always off on my own, creating some magical adventure out of twigs and rocks (I was like the Macgyver of imagining).  On some level I sensed that this wasn't totally normal and I began to look at my imagination as a burden, as something to grow out of.  It wasn't until watching Puff the Magic Dragon that I realized creativity was something to be cherished and celebrated, that it was the fundamental quality that made me me. 

Last week I sat down and rewatched Puff.  In true Liz fashion, I started tearing up within the first 30 seconds of the movie (children's movies are my kryptonite).  This was what got me:

"Once quite by chance there was an extraordinary old universe of worlds and wonder, of moons and magic.  And moving through this universe was a familiar old world of cities and streets, of trees and cars.  And there in an ordinary house, on an ordinary chair was a boy in whose head was locked an untold story as extraordinary as anything that old universe had ever seen or heard.  His name is Jackie Draper.  And don't worry... magnificent things are about to happen."

 That, in a nutshell, is my life philosophy.  I believe that there is greatness within all of us, a greatness that is completely unique and unforgettable .  All we have to do is muster up the courage to find it within ourselves.  To quote Puff yet again:

"Just as I promised you helped yourself.  And in doing so, you helped me.  Now it's time to be truly brave:  to face growing up.  To be Jackie Draper.  And eventually, to go beyond childish fancies like dragons and not need them anymore (Well, unless absolutely necessary).  Now it's all up to you."

 So my message to you, dear reader, is whenever life gets hard and you find yourself doubting everything you ever stood for, remember this:  You hold the keys to your own greatness.  Despite being in an ordinary house, on an ordinary chair, somewhere within the confines of your mind lies something the likes of which this world has never seen.  

And above all, don't worry.  Magnificent things are about to happen

:o)