childhood dreams :: interview with tanner

[note: for those of you who don't know my brother, tanner, he is a 24-year-old imagineer for walt disney. his dream, since i can remember, has been to design rides for theme parks (which i've learned is different from rides built for amusement parks). his dedication has both inspired and irritated me. his ability to be technical and creative simultaneously confused me. but as i watch him create moments for others to experience joy - even if it's just for a few minutes strapped to the seat of a roller coaster - i am reminded that this is what it looks like to see someone else living the life they were meant to live. and for this, i am annoyed by his brilliance. so without further ado ... i introduce tanner ... undoubtedly one of the most intelligent and focused individuals i know]

interview:
K: What is your first memory of loving the process of creating rides? Do you remember how your passion evolved?
T: In 4th or 5th grade, my best friend Keith Mehner and I drew a layout of an imaginary roller coaster. He liked NASA and I liked roller coasters, so the roller coaster was themed like a space mission with a shuttle as the ride vehicle. The coaster had a launch at the beginning, a slingshot around a planet, and even a portion where it jumped the track to hop over an asteroid. Who knows what else was on that drawing, but it was the first time I remember role-playing as if it was a real job to design rides. I loved that it had a theme (that the roller coaster elements went through motions to represent events in the story), and I love that I did the drawing with a friend (I have always found more energy and creativity in coming up with ideas as a team). The passion for roller coaster design evolved into a passion for rides, and then for theme park attractions in general. I learned about how stories were the foundation of theme park attractions, and how a ride or show can deliver a message or tap into emotions.

K: How does dreaming about your 'dream job' look now that you have the one you've imagined for so long?
T: Reaching my dream job (or at least my dream workplace) quickly forced me to step back and re-evaluate my core dream. What about this job did I dream so much about? Am I really doing what I dreamed about now that I'm here? I find that no matter where I am, I continue dreaming about a more specific vision. It took a big vision to get me here, and now I dream in more specific and focused visions.

K: What has been most rewarding or even exciting for you ... the pursuit or the actual life within the dream?
T: The season you are NOT in always seems to be more rewarding. When I was pursuing, it felt like the job would be more rewarding than the chasing. Now, I look back and daydream about memories of the pursuit. But there is no doubt that the actual life is just as rewarding. It is very exciting to be able to ride around in a vehicle and suddenly flash back to a time when I saw pictures of Imagineers testing vehicles and dreamed about this day; or to walk through the empty Magic Kingdom at night and flashback to a time when I dreamed about roaming through the parks on vacation. Reaching a milestone in the career dream gives you the chance to enjoy the memories AND enjoy creating new visions.

a side note from tanner ... must read! :)

An attempt at a summary...
I'll try an analogy that may be helpful... I think chasing a career dream is a bit like seeing a beautiful, exotic car pass by and running after it. You chase it because it looks cool, and if it's fairly exclusive, you probably won't have another chance for it to come around again. You run hard enough to catch up with it and you jump in. It's an immediate change. It's a bit more relaxing because all of a sudden you don't have to run anymore. Things slow down for a minute. You enjoy it. Then, after a minute, you realize that in all your time chasing a good-looking car you didn't spend much time thinking where it was heading or where it would take you if you got in. So, now you are in the car. You start thinking about the interior of the car that you've never seen and wondering if it's nice enough inside to stay for a long ride. You look around and wonder if you'll get along with the other people in the car with you. You have to figure out where you hope the car will go now and how you can get the others in the car on-board with that vision. You're not in this on your own anymore. It involves more relationships now and more politics. And from the inside, it takes energy to remember what was so good-looking about the car when you were chasing it. But that doesn't take away from the reward of being inside and on your way to exciting new places.


thanks to tanner for his example of living within your dreams and how to keep moving forward.