In January, I made the decision to take my son to Disneyland in Paris. It was our first time together, and everything coincided with our birthday celebrations. So, we opened ourselves up to any kind of experience we could have in this magical location. I never imagined that my experience at Disneyland would, in any way, reconnect me with memories from my past lives.
My son had no idea what to expect and, while I was nervous about our first trip abroad as a pair.
Amidst all the beauty I saw at Disneyland, one thing stood out: “It’s a small world.” You boarded boats and floated on water within a vast inner that from the outside appeared like a castle. The countries were represented by dolls and various decorations. It was a journey spanning all continents. In the final area, these dolls, dressed in their national attire, sang and danced in a wonderful, fairy-tale-like setting that was pure and delicate.
The parents and children were amazed by what they saw, both on our boat and on others. Everyone remained silent and felt a bond forming between us. “We felt as though we belonged to the same group, despite coming from different nations with different beliefs and statuses. More than just a crowd of Disneyland visitors, we had become a community drawn together by the power of stories. And this portrayal of our world and its diversity made us more beautiful and less threatening to others. We were enchanted by pure magic.
After leaving that place, I took a closer look at Disneyland Park and found a similar ambiance throughout.
Then I pondered: What if we could remember all of our past lives? What if we found ourselves on both sides of the barrier, with different skin colors, opinions, and prejudices, and we had only seen one facet of the world’s complexity and understood only half of it? What would it mean if we could remember all our past lives? Would it provide better understanding of the person next to us, more empathy, and a desire to embrace diversity rather than reject it? Would this revelation improve us? After all, we all live on a very small globe. And if the beauty of stories, in this case, our story from past lives, didn’t fascinate us so much that we forget the hatred?
