Becoming a Jedi

I just got back from Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland. I now have a light saber. I know I fell into Disney's trap, I don't care. I feel like a Jedi.

For the cynics among you, rest assured, I am not naive. I know Disney is specifically targeting me, and I offer them a hearty congratulations. I do not fall prey to all of their schemes, but they had me at Millennium Falcon. I feel like a scoundrel

Upon entry to Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, I became 10 again. The attention to detail is magnificent. The coke bottles have been re-designed with the Star Wars Aurebesh alphabet, which also adorns the trash cans. The doors to the droid workshop opened automatically like on the Death Star with the same control panel design that Luke blasts to keep the stormtroopers at bay as he and Leia try to escape (and yes, I took a picture of just this control panel). Even the plants and bushes look like they belong on a different planet. The buildings, the fake rocky outcroppings, the Cantina, and folks...the Millennium Falcon are designed in jaw-dropping detail. I felt wonder again.

It was the same wonder I felt when I first saw A New Hope, what will forever be known simply as Star Wars to me. I know the market has been saturated to the point of skepticism; so much so that even the most devout fans hope for wonder and, on even the smallest level, expect disappointment. Walking around Galaxy's Edge, however reminded me why I will always be indebted to Star Wars: It gave me the gift of story.

It's a familiar story, filled with heroes and rogues, wise old mentors, villains with complexity, humor, gravity, surprises, betrayal, redemption, and a good old fashioned curtain call in the form of a tableau. It's a story with missteps and compromises, that occasionally mistrusts its audience and gets seduced into making choices favoring a dollar over narrative truth. Sometimes it tries too hard to make everyone happy and forgets its heart only to rediscover it on the periphery often in the hands of a child. It's a story of courage, honor, loyalty and sacrifice. It's epic and personal all at once. It is human.

It is my story, and, I would venture to say, yours too.

I have known heroes and been heroic. The title has not been bestowed based on holding up buildings or flying around the galaxy; but because of finding the bravery to get through a day, or week, or year, and possibly making that day or week or year a little easier for someone else.

I have known (and dated) rogues, and wish to be a bit more roguei-sh, truth be known; because rogues often dare what others do not and therefore widen our perception of what's possible.

I am grateful for all of the wise old mentors in my life and carry their words with me in all that I do.

I have known, and probably been, villains with complexity, and found forgiveness in recognizing their pain and fallibility.

Humor has, does and will continue to sustain me with perspective and discovery.

I have felt gravity, been delighted by surprise, cried at betrayals, been grateful for redemption, and relished the moments of tableaus when all has been happy and content, if only for that moment.

I have definitely misstepped and compromised and lost the trust of others as well as myself.

I've chosen money over the truth of my narrative more often than not, and still have credit card debt.

Have I tried too hard to make everyone happy? Read a few of my past blog posts and catch up.

And I have re-discovered my heart time and again in my children.

I may not always succeed, but I strive for courage, honor and loyalty.

I recognize the epic in the personal, and how the courage to be personal is often the most epic gesture.

I know Star Wars does not resonate with everyone in the same way. Your Star Wars might be Harry Potter, or the Avengers, or The GodFather, or Jane Austen, or Pokemon, or Basketball, or whatever feels familiar and amazing, and restores, resets and reignites pure wonder and conviction free of cynicism and doubt. Me, I call it the Force, and I will continue to wander through the galaxy led by its insight, with my trusty light saber by my side.