#03: A Sense of Place — The Magic of Disney’s Epcot

We all need a sense of place.

Somewhere that feels our own… Where the air hangs in a specific way that somehow aligns with our being. There’s a unique personality to every place, a unique sensation that you feel when you just exist there — whether it be a city, a country, a stadium, a park or simply a room… It’s something natural and automatic… A vibration in the air that only exists in that one exact location.  Irreplaceable anywhere else on earth. 

There is a place, though, that has achieved something truly magic — Disney World’s Epcot. Here, they’ve gone to incredible lengths to recreate these different places from around the world and along the way they have channeled a little of that vibration, that magic from the original locations into these concentrated versions that are side-by-side so you can visit them all in one day.

The truth is, compared to the real, “from the source” experience of being in these places in the world, these versions of Morocco, France, Mexico, etc… don’t compare to the originals at all.  But, they capture just enough of their essence to create somewhere that is uniquely magic and awe-inspiring in its own right. The sum is much greater than the parts and being able to just hop from one to the next is a bizarre but enlightening experience. Only possible here, in this one place.

And that’s some of the magic I want to infuse into The Great Escape.   A digital escape from reality, where we might be thousands of miles away from each other, but together, we are transported to new places… even if only digitally. Through music, through film, through words… because we all need a place to escape to every now and then.

#02: You Are Untouchable.

I am absolutely obsessed with nature.

It’s where I get the most inspiration creatively and where I get the most rejuvenation mentally. I honestly exist in a state of constant awe of the natural world. Because in nature, everything just seems so right… so balanced. And for some crazy reason, I believe some of this balance… this perfection, has been infused into music, which is absolutely crazy because it’s something that we humans create from our own minds and hands.

I truly believe that songs are magic. Real magic. They are creations that can bottle up experiences and feelings that can be relived at a later time — Emotions that can be felt again… Memories that flow as if you were right there again. One of the coolest things is how a song means something unique to every person that hears it.

I wrote my new song, ‘Untouchable,’ while sitting out on a mountainside with just me and my guitar at a time when I felt untethered from my normal thoughts… Ungrounded from the normal stress and worry of the real world. At that moment, I knew how to scream at the top of my lungs, I knew how it felt to be on top of the world and when I hear ‘Untouchable’ now, it still takes me back to that exact moment, on that exact hillside where the song came to be. Magic.

And now that ‘Untouchable’ is out in the world, I hope it means something unique to you and that it’s a worthy companion as you keep exploring this crazy, beautiful, unpredictable world.

#01: The Great Escape: My Vision for TGE

I’d been dreaming about creating a place like “The Great Escape” for years now.  Looking back, different seeds of the idea popped up in my journals, like little clues of what was to come, stretching back almost 5 years.  It’s funny how that works out.  How an unconscious seed of an idea joins with another and then with another until it grows into a fully formed thing… which brings us to today.

A huge part of “The Great Escape” (TGE) finally becoming reality stemmed from a feeling I’d been having often lately. A feeling like I had to do something to help the world.  Like really and directly contributing to help the world.  Maybe it’s because I watched David Attenborough’s: A Life On Our Planet (go watch it right now if you haven’t yet) and felt the need to act… I don’t know.  Either way, I felt this deep down NEED to somehow contribute to making the world shine a bit brighter and preserve it’s beauty for future generations.  Oh yeah, I also have a kid now and he’s truly the best thing that could ever exist.  I’m sure that contributed to my urgency too. 

I know that it’s easy to convince yourself that by being an artist, you are contributing to the world already, and I agree that my art… my music has saved me and hopefully helped other people on this planet — I mean, music is the closest thing to pure magic that exists in this world, I believe.  But, I’m talking hands-on, immediate, “help this planet” type of thing.  So that’s one reason the Great Escape exists now.

Another reason is just that I love creating things… creating spaces… telling stories… immersing myself in worlds with interlocked continuing threads that are connected, surprising, and unexpected.  For me, there’s a disconnectedness that I feel runs through much of our “connected world” so I feel invigorated to be creating a space to share my art and tell stories in a way that is connected, intertwined and inspiring. 

This journal entry is the first of many entries I will be writing and probably a great example of how I picture this journal going — unfiltered, unrefined thoughts, ideas, obsessions, dreams… Now, I don’t want to explain too much more about The Great Escape right now, just know that I am so glad that you’re with me here for the adventure. 

If you haven’t already, go dive in and have a look around. This is the beginning of something beautiful.