In Los Angeles, You Can Reach for the Moon

 HOT AIR ballooning in Napa Valley? Very Californian. Lifting a house up into the sky via balloons? Very Angeleno. Anyone who has seen the Disney/Pixar animated film "Up," in which a house is triumphantly launched into the sky by the protagonist, will appreciate this accomplishment, which was performed last March by a team of "scientists, engineers and two world class balloon pilots" according to design-dautore.com. The extravaganza took place for a National Geographic special titled "How Hard Can it Be?" that will air later this year.

      It is very telling that this accomplishment took place at a private site slightly east of Los Angeles, because Los Angeles is a haven for those who want to reach for more. In Los Angeles, the average person can reach for the moon, and in this case, they can reach for the moon from their very own living room.

    I knew I had to blog about this photo because when I came across it on a friend's Facebook page, I thought to myself, not knowing where the flight took place, "that's something that would happen in Los Angeles."As I read the caption beneath it I came to realize that although it occurred slightly outside of Los Angeles, there were Angelenos behind the project that brought it to a workable base (after all, something this whimsical would be impossible to pull off in the city). 

    Los Angeles is a town that makes dreams come true, whether you go right back to Disney making dreams come true in "Up" - and, of course, Los Angeles is the home of Disneyland - or take a glimpse of Angelenos strolling down the street. People come to Los Angeles to follow their heart, no matter how big their dreams are. When I first came to L.A. I quickly ran the gamut of "dream following" careers from actress to screenwriter to film director to photographer to author before settling on the notion that here, as long as I continue with my education, I can do any of those things.

    Lifting a house into the sky with a group of balloons is a testament to how important it is to push yourself to your limits in a city like Los Angeles. If you don't, you might get lost in the shuffle. It might sound a little Disney, but this photo reminded me that if you follow heart, your dreams will come true.

photo credit: Design-dautore.com