In the Key to the Kingdom, I tried to explore some of the history and life of the man, Walt Disney.
Here is a story that many often don’t think about when they remember his story…
The year was 1923 when Walt Disney boarded a train for Los Angeles with some samples of the animation work he had done in Kansas City. At the time Walt had a whopping $40 in his pocket and was off to reunite with his brother Roy who was already living in Southern California.
Upon arriving he needed a place to live so he moved in temporarily with his uncle Robert. Needing a place to keep working, desiring a place to call his own, and seeing the value of a place where he could work…Walt convinced his uncle Robert to rent him his garage. Walt then talked Roy into helping him and this garage became the very first (and extremely primitive) Disney studio.
After all these years it is sometimes easy to forget all the work, all the sacrifice, and all the places that Walt worked and dreamed before you end up in places like Disneyland and Walt Disney World. But this is the important thing to remember…without the hard work in the garage or the workshop…Magic Kingdoms never become a reality.
It would be nice if we could shortcut the process. Sometimes we long for something to just show up and make us successful. But the reality is that anything of value is worth working for…and time and time again, history reveals that the dreamers and doers worked to create and make their dreams come true.
If you have a dream chase it, work for it, and keep pushing as you strive for it. Don’t be afraid of the beginnings that take place way off the beaten path and out of the spotlight (even if it is in a garage) The garage of dreams becomes the workshop where dreams become reality. Maybe it is time for you to roll up your sleeves and get to work!
As a side note: Uncle Robert’s garage is now a part of history preserved forever. Today you can find it at the Stanley Ranch Museum in Garden Grove, California. Walt Disney’s first studio stands as a reminder that it takes work and risk to make dreams come true.