Hi, friends.
I'm sure these past few weeks have been crazy for all of us. For me, my heart got shattered. Due to the coronavirus, my Disney College Program has been suspended. We aren't sure if we're going to get to come back any time soon. I also made a heartbreaking decision about something else about a week ago, which I won't get into, but having both things happen in the span of a week has been emotionally draining. Since everything is so out of control, I've felt unbalanced and have been really demanding towards my friends. I feel horrible about myself and how I'm making the people around me feel. Thankfully, everyone is equally as upset and has been understanding. We've all had our fair share of breakdowns this weekend. Although the stress of this week has been unbearable, I'm so incredibly grateful for what the DCP has given me. I made some beautiful friends and have fantastic memories, even though the time was cut short.
The post I have below was written about two weeks ago before I knew that I was going to be utterly crushed. It never left my draft box. I wanted to share it with you today anyway, so you can still get an insight into what Disney was like for me. Plus, I wrote about a fantastic personal development quote that I think you might enjoy. So if you're not interested in reading about my DCP experience, at least take a look at the quote.
In these next few days, I hope to relax and help my heart heal. I'm going to dive deeper into my mindfulness journey and recenter myself. I want to work on grounding myself. The chaotic energy I've surrounded myself with needs to change.
Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy my DCP post. :)
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Hello, all my beautiful readers!
I haven’t physically seen any of you in about two months now! I’m sure you all have burning questions about how I’ve been doing and what I’ve been up to on my DCP. At least I’d like to think you have burning questions. I’ll just answer my own questions because I find myself so interesting. I mean, who doesn’t?
So Camryn, what’s it like working for Disney?
Ummmmm a dream come true? I’ve been dreaming about this endlessly since my sophomore year of high school and here I am 5 years later at a fantasmic (hahah get my pun? hahaha...) role with incredible coworkers and wonderful roomies. What more could I ask for!
I’ve been here for about a month and a half now. Overall I’ve been in love with my program, but every once and a while I have conniptions. My latest conniption was over someone taking my laundry out of the dryer before it was done and I had to pay for another dryer… Some people are as evil as Maleficent. Pure evil.
But the weather here? AMAZING. I have no idea how I’ve survived the cold for so long. I enjoy the warm sunshine in the winter. Nighttime actually gets pretty chilly which I was shocked! I need to wear a jacket! You're all probably rolling your eyes at me because y’all are enduring snow and freezing temperatures but let me tell you, Florida winters still catch me off guard. I should have packed a few more sweaters!
Tell me about your role!
My role? I’m so glad you asked. As a spa hostess, I have a lot of responsibilities. I work at the front desk and greet people as they walk in. I check them into their appointments and check them out. I can also adjust and book appointments. When I’m on the floor, I reorganize the lounge and serve drinks, give tours of the facility, answer guest questions, restock the amenities, and fold lots of towels. And there’s a different fold for each type of towel. What a skill to add to a resume!!! I love walking into work every day and being greeted by the smell of eucalyptus and calming music.
Sometimes the spa is quiet and there isn’t much to attend to. Other times I’m running around the facility like crazy to accommodate guests and tidy up the facility and hit my 10,000 steps by 12pm. Each day is a gamble. But I love it regardless.
What magical moments have you had?
Nothing compares to Disney magic! On Mardi Gras, my friends and I headed over to the Port Orleans resort. Although I didn’t get to see Princess Tiana that night, We headed over to a cafe for beignets. If you’ve never had a beignet, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s impossible to resist these Mickey-shaped fried dough treats that are straight magic! Well, that night, only one of my friends got a beignet and the rest of us weren’t in the mood to eat more dessert because we’re all dessert monsters and decided to show a little self-control. Then, this darling cast member, who I think was a manager, came out and started talking to us and was shocked that only one of us had beignets! He went to the back and came out with three beignets for us to enjoy for free. My heart still feels all warm and fuzzy from this!
Wow, Cam! That is really magical! But let’s be real, everything can’t be perfect. What are some things that aren’t so great that you’re working on?
Overall, everything here is phenomenal. I love my job, even when I have to show up at 7 am for three days in a row and I have dark circles under my eyes. I have to say, those super early mornings are pretty rough and I’m too exhausted to do anything fun after my shifts. Other days I have the energy of ten thousand suns and can work all day and prance around the parks after. It depends on the day.
But the toughest thing I’ve been experiencing has actually been PMS. For the past year, the week or two leading up to my period was the WORST! I get exhausted and my mood drops dangerously. As you all know, last year I was depressed. I cried constantly and felt awful so when my PMS came, it became ten times worse. It took every ounce of strength I had to get myself out of bed and my head felt like little knives were cutting through it. I would sit in class and tears would be rolling down my cheeks. Not cute. Last week, my PMS kicked in and I started crying at work. AT WORK. IN THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH. REAL TEARS. Nothing triggered me either. I was crying for no reason. That’s how I knew there was something wrong. I finally decided to talk to my mom about how awful I was feeling and that my period was affecting my day to day life. She recommended some supplements to me, so hopefully, next month will go smoother.
Your blog is all about personal development! What personal growth have you been working on?
Ah, you know me so well. Of course, I’ve continued to work on growing and improving myself. There’s a Brene Brown quote I heard that has been helping me a lot this semester.
“Don’t shrink. Don’t puff up. Just stand your sacred ground.”
This quote reminds me to just be myself and that I’m enough. I’m working on just showing up as I am.
Something I’ve always struggled with is when I do something wrong, I make myself smaller. Being that I’m in a completely new environment and I’m performing a job I’ve never had experience in before, I’m prone to making mistakes. Constantly. And that’s normal, but I have a tendency to beat myself up over the smallest things. In the past, I would bring myself such anxiety about making mistakes and not feeling good enough and in turn, I would be so anxiety-ridden. Now, every time I tell a coordinator I’ve made some sort of error, I get ready to shrink inside myself, but instead of hanging my head in shame, I’ve been working on just being me. It’s okay that I’ve made this mistake. I shouldn’t feel bad, especially since everything is fixable and I’m not expected to be perfect. And once the problem is resolved, go back to doing the best I can. Even if I make another mistake five minutes later, stopping myself from shrinking. I shouldn’t have to punish myself. I’ve significantly improved on letting go of these types of negative emotions and I’ve noticed myself release a lot of tension during situations like this.
I’m also working on not puffing up. Sometimes I get thrown into social situations where I feel the need to prove myself. In my head, I think someone is cooler than me and feel the need to “match” them. Now, instead of getting louder so people can hear me or trying to dominate the situation, I just am. I’m Camryn. It doesn’t matter who the person sitting across from me is. I don’t have anything to prove. Sometimes I have to repeat the quote in my head over and over throughout the time being, but I’ve noticed my energy isn’t as frantic anymore. I feel more ease when talking to others now.
I’m still working on finding my “sacred ground”, but I feel a lot more grounded and at peace, almost as if I’m getting closer to who I really am. I feel more aligned. Just standing by who I believe I am has made the biggest difference so far in my program.
I’ve also been reading Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis because I live and breathe all things Rachel Hollis apparently. I love the book so far! Highly highly recommend if you’re looking for a new personal development book to dive into. I’ll talk more about it in another post because there are so many gold nuggets that I want to share with you.
What other cool things can you tell us about Disney?!
Well, I finally tried the Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom! I’ve been dreaming of trying the grey stuff for years, but I haven’t been to Disney since freshman year of high school. I’m thrilled to inform you that I have tasted the grey stuff and it is indeed delicious!! If you haven’t tasted this incredible dessert, start planning your next Disney vacation now because it’s so yummy. I’ve also had dessert almost every night since I’ve been here and I’ve been here for a month and a half now… But I walk around a lot and still do yoga so it’s kind of okay?
If you come down to Disney and haven’t tried resort hopping, you should definitely hop on that. (hahaha get it, hop on it to go resort hopping hahaha...ha…) Disney has sooo many resorts that are all stunning and completely different. Many of them are close together or easy to get to through the different modes of transportation. If you’re looking for an IG worthy spot, head over to the Riviera. There are these GORGEOUS mosaics. If you’re a Tangled or Peter Pan fanatic, you don’t want to miss this!
I have a collection of Minnie Mouse ears hanging on my wall now. That’s pretty cute. It’s almost as cute as me. LOL.
Hopefully, you found lots of enjoyment in this post. I sure had fun writing it and catching you up on some of the things going on in my new Disney-fied life!
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Well, friends, my Disney College Program journey has come to an end. I fully intend to jump back into the magic as soon as Disney opens up again, but we'll see how long that'll take. Maybe the program will resume, or maybe I'll get accepted into a part or full-time role. I'll keep you all posted.
xoxo,
Camryn