Last night I saw the 360entertainment production of “Peter Pan” here in Boston for the second time. It was no less exhilarating than the first time, and in fact, I noticed many more details the second time around. This particular production takes place in the round in a big-top tent. The white upper walls and ceiling of the tent become a 360-degree projection screen for spectacular computer generated moving images. This is especially effective in the flying and underwater scenes. The flying specialists also employed a new 2-wire harness system for the characters so that the flying was absolutely amazing.
To be able to fly is a fantasy that many people have at some point in their lives. According to Peter Pan and his companion fairy, Tinkerbell, if you want to fly, all you have to do is “think wonderful thoughts” and off the ground you go. What a great fantasy! But what if it wasn’t fantasy? Ok, perhaps we can’t literally fly, but metaphorically speaking, I have certainly found that I do, in fact, have a great deal of power over whether I am “flying” in life or I am stuck. It’s all about the story I am telling myself about what is (or isn’t!) going on.
For me, flying symbolizes freedom. And I have learned over the years that whether or not I feel free is, for the most part, actually up to me. Am I telling myself a story that creates an inner sense of freedom and expansiveness, or is my story keeping me grounded and trapped? Am I letting life circumstances and situations determine who I am and my relationship to those circumstances or am I choosing my relationship to what is happening around me?
I’ve had my share of tough times as most of us have, and I’ve also learned a lot about negotiating them. Spending two recent evenings with Peter Pan has served as a great reminder that indeed, I can fly—even when it feels like the pirates are coming! I can choose my relationship to what is going on in my life, even if in the moment I can’t change the circumstances, and that is a great gift.