Off With Their Heads!!!

Disclaimer: All quotes in bold are taken from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, 1865.

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.

“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.

“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland five part book series published in 1865 is the original of all the Alice stories. Some take this a step further and say Wonderland is the top most influential fantasy world and the first. The book has never been out of print, translated into 97 different languages, over 20 different movie adaptations, comic strips/books, and live performances. It is safe to say we are all a little mad here!

I say to myself “I must be going crazy” more than I should and like to admit. Being a mother of three children six and under, working a full time job, accelerating my writing to a point of valued income, keeping a home, staying social, remembering to eat and drink water, and squeezing in some squats, makes me feel like I am going down a rabbit hole everyday.

“Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

When you’re overwhelmed and stressed you stay with this impending doom, an everything is crashing down around you feeling. Then you get some sleep, have a good breakfast, and know today is a chance to start again. Some situations are not as straightforward. Some situations may be unhealthy, undisciplined, or hold no value in your life and overstay their welcome. The end may seem far away, but there is always light at the end of the rabbit hole.

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where –"

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go.”

If you do not know which way you are going, then any road will get you there. There is no such thing as not knowing, only not doing. You could very well not know, but you could always do something to find out.

Some people get so caught up in their confusion that they remain stagnant longer than necessary. Confusion only ends with clarity so keep going until you find it.

Some people wrestle with the unknown and remain stagnant in the same fight until they know. You cannot know anything if you do not do anything, so do something to find out.

Some people get stuck because they are looking at too many roads and they fear they will choose the wrong road. There is no wrong road, every road you choose leads to where you need to be.

“Who in the world am I?"

"Ah, that's the great puzzle.”

We are always on a path to self discovery, self love, self identity, and to be one with self. Will we ever find all the pieces?

Alice is on a journey to find herself whether she wants to face the reality of her dream or not. This is a battle we fight just like Alice. It isn't until we truly believe in ourselves, our worth, our strength, our minds, and our intuition that we are able to decapitate the Jabberwocky.

“I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?”

Some days I have all my ducks in a row, other days I can’t find the ducks, and on my worst days I don’t even remember the ducks. Does this make sense to you? Because it makes sense in my head then sounds all mad when I speak.

“I don't think..."

"then you shouldn't talk”, said the Hatter.

True, but sometimes speaking is thinking. Sometimes I am better at completing my thoughts when I say them out loud and other times I am better at thinking than speaking. There is a difference between talking to yourself and having a conversation, but you know what they say, “speech is silver, silence is golden.”

“Have i gone mad?

"I'm afraid so, but let me tell you something, the best people usually are.”

What is normal? Who defined normal? Who defined what a definition is? You mean someone created words? Did they first think them or did they first speak them? Was it the same language I speak? How do I know what I am saying is actually right then?

Truth is, the only thing "normal" about any of us is that we are all human.

“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.”

Of course! But some people’s very lives have been saved because others were minding someone else's business.

Some people mind other people’s business like they are on a payroll. Where are the boundaries and marked lines not to cross? Its maddening, I tell ya!

Sometimes a great deal of time is wasted because somebody minded a business that they shouldn't and caused turmoil that could have been avoided. Don't trip into no one's rabbit hole uninvited now, you might just get spat out.

“Either it brings tears to their eyes, or else -"

"Or else what?" said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.

"Or else it doesn't, you know.”

Ying and yang. Good and evil. Beauty and ugly. Light and darkness. One cannot exist without the other. Once you have one, you will experience two. The cycle will always continue. You can never get stuck in just one because then you will have truly gone mad.

You can try to convince someone to agree with you. You can try to force a relationship. You can try to right a wrong. You can try to win a challenge. You can try to make someone like you or even hate you. You can try all day at everything and anything, but it's not always going to work out according to how you imagine it too. And that is completely ok. You just keep on trying until something goes right.

Alice in Wonderland is our inner most thoughts, turmoil's, tribulations, and self doubts brought to life and that was in 1865! 156 years later and Alice can still teach us a lesson or ten! James Bobin's and Tim Burton’s recent adaption of Alice in Wonderland and James Bobin's Through The Looking Glass are my favorite. Alice constantly in the state of confusion and self doubt until she comes out the rabbit hole is the perfect depiction of what we attempt to achieve everyday: to come out the other end of the rabbit hole a confident, strong human being who isn’t scared to stick up for themselves. Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but if you’re honest with yourself and those around you, the possibility to achieve true happiness and self love becomes easier. Alice taught me that.