Category: Imagination and Wonder

All the World’s Indeed a Stage and We are Merely Players

All the world’s indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience
Outside the gilded cage

Those are lyrics from the song “Limelight” by the Canadian rock band, Rush. This adaptation of Shakespeare was written by drummer Neil Peart and sung by bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee.

The origin of the song is a speech from William Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It. Act II, Scene VII, features one of Shakespeare’s most famous monologues which begins:

All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts …

Though I love many of Shakespeare’s monologues, this one is best depicted as a song running through my head throughout my life since I first heard it on the Rush Moving Pictures album in 1981 when I was a teenage fan.

Theater as a metaphor for life is a concept I entertained when I was still in the single digits of life. I was one of those philosophical, geeky, 4-eyed kids who just couldn’t get into sports because my hands, eyes, arms, and legs didn’t know how to work in conjunction. I couldn’t do cartwheels, skip rope with others holding the end of the jump rope, or run at the pace of others.  I barely scraped by in gym class.

I couldn’t sing on-key but that never stopped me from singing to myself. It still doesn’t.

I found myself on a stage in Theatre class in college where we did a session on Improv acting. A student director approached me afterward and told me I had a stage presence. He asked me to be in his play but I was too nervous to say yes.

I was afraid of making a mistake in delivering scripted lines. Imagine what might have become if I had gone beyond my fear.

I may have ended up on the right path a lot sooner.

I had jobs at the local Renaissance Faire where I could create a character and play act but that ended a while back. The last dozen or so years I’ve portrayed other facets of myself: a pirate chic named Red-Handed Ginny and a faerie queen called Queen Goo.

I’m a silly person who enjoys playing different roles with friends. I often play Mario to my best friend’s Luigi where-a I talk with-a lousy Italian accent. In real life, I have a distinctive Sout’side (the “h” is silent) Chicago dialect no one else in my family seems to have. It’s all part of the character I play in my imagination.

We all play various characters in the theatre of life: child, sibling, friend, parent, lover, student, teacher, employee, coworker, boss or fill-in-the-blank.

A lot of times we juggle roles.

In the 1965 animated Peanuts Christmas special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Linus,  with his blue security blanket and profound philosophical nature, gives a narrative of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke which ends with:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.

Linus is playing the narrator in that play.

In the theatre of life, there are times when we are in the spotlight of center stage, on the side, backstage or in the audience.

There are people who always want to be the center of attention and demand that we give our attention to them. In our society, we make celebrities out of them, obsessing to no end about what they did or what they said. Some of them can be so ego-driven that they upstage everyone in their lives and may attack those who have a different perspective.

We call them drama queens in everyday life and tyrants in positions of power. They care more about themselves and their own interests than everyone else. In their world, everyone is the audience praising them or antagonists who vilify them. Their reality is warped because their ego is out of control.

We get sucked into their world. When we give them our attention, it feeds their egos. When we give them our attention, it takes away from us doing something wonderful for ourselves.

Getting hooked on their little reality show often makes us forget that we have the right to be center stage as well.

All of us have the right to tell our version of the story, to think for ourselves. We don’t have to believe what another says just because they said it.

When Linus got onstage, he spoke words of love, to which I say:

The ability to shine in the light
is available to all.
Spreading a message of peace
and goodwill uplifts everyone.

Imagine the world if we all actually lived the lessons of kindergarten: sharing, caring, kindness and respect.

Imagine the world if we all gave attention to our joy instead of our misery. Imagine if we stopped attacking those who are different from us. Imagine if our choices were made from a warm loving heart instead of a reactive hot head. Imagine if we listened more than we talked.

Do you ever wonder how our world change if we changed the play?

Always,
Alice Always

A Short Conversation with God about My Mission in Life while Sungazing

The other day I did sungazing, as I do every sunrise or sunset if the sun is not blocked by clouds. This is a spiritual practice where you stare at the sun for short increments of time. I do this to further my spiritual growth and gain insight by opening my eyes to the light of the sun and allowing the sun to shine through my third eye.

If you are interested in practicing sungazing, please do your research. If I have time to write about the topic further, I will. I live in a northern climate and do not follow traditional protocol but rather a style that I intuited is most beneficial to me.

I have to repeat this:
Do not attempt sungazing without researching it fully first!

It can be dangerous if you stare too long or at an inappropriate time or when the UV Index is too high.  Yes, you can go blind. So if you try sungazing, be careful. Be very, very careful.

I do not recommend sungazing for everyone at this current time in our world. It is not something to do on a whim because of harmful levels of UV rays due to ozone layer depletion.

As anyone who was on the planet 50 years ago can tell you, the sun seems much stronger today than back in then. For your perusal, here is a 2012 Australian article about increased levels of UV rays.

If you are interested in learning about sungazing, there is a wealth of information out there on the internet. Here is an article about sungazing that might be helpful from Collective Evolution. Also, here is a link to a YouTube video that is featured in the article.

Sungaze only if you feel called to do it. If you decide to do it, you may find that some people consider it a ridiculous thing and might make fun of you out of ignorance and lack of understanding. Depending on the people within your personal world, it may be in your best interest to keep it to yourself. At least for time being until the collective awakens further.

So back to the topic at hand. The other morning, after my sungazing and rocking rainbow meditation (more on that at a later time), I’m getting up from a kneeling position and God says to me:

“Just one a day. Is that too much to ask?”

The Big Kahuna, the Spirit in the Sky, Me, Myself and I, Bob, or whatever you want to call the Universe, isn’t talking about vitamins.

The Universe is trying to remind me that I said that I would write one blog post a day and publish those posts. Or at least work towards publishing the volumes of writing material that I have written throughout the years.

Writing is my way to uplift all of us, you, me and whoever else stumbles upon this. It is also a way of informing you what I know, which may be helpful for you and your journey here in this world or others.

It would benefit me because I would be fulfilling part of my mission by writing daily and posting the blog articles as soon as I can, even with their imperfections.

I keep coming up with excuses not to write by doing small busywork things that prevent me from writing.

Why?

Because a large part of myself still wants to stay small. And part of that large part may be You. What I mean is that I could be reflecting your own procrastination, closed mind, or fear of being seen.

Because we are all One,
I know that what you bring into your life
is a reflection of where your mindset is
at any given point.

Well, I went off on one of my tangents. Oh well! Back to the conversation with God…

So today, to fulfill part of my Earthly mission, I will start posting and publishing more often, hopefully at least every other day if not more.

I know I’m a day few days late. And possibly a dollar short. Whatever that means.

Here’s what I said to God:

“OK, I’ll do it. I know I signed up for this. I remember. I’ll make writing a priority and tell the world what I know. If they don’t like it or aren’t ready for it and tune me out, that’s OK. If they like it and tune me in, well then, that’s OK too.”

I’m OK, you’re OK. It’s a book. (I’ve been saying that phrase since 1984, so why stop now?)

I submit to various Facebook groups and will continue to do that for a while. For me, time is speeding up so fast that I don’t get everything done each day that I would like to. And that’s OK too.

I am asking a request of everyone who is reading this post or anything else that I write. If something touches your soul and you think that it would benefit someone who you know or haven’t met yet, please share it with others on whatever social media outlet you like. I know that what I have to say is needed at this time because as Alice I understand things that you don’t unless you understand that you are Alice also.

And if you already know that you are Alice, well then, you’ll already in Wonderland.

Always,
Alice Always

P.S. For more information on being on a mission from God, here’s another blog post featuring the Blues Brothers.

Our Gifts Are Meant To Be Shared

We all have gifts that set us apart from others. Sometimes a gift is obvious, like someone who can fly through the air and slam-dunk a basketball. A certain Chicago Bulls player whose jersey was number 23 comes to mind.

Some people are masters of taking food ingredients and preparing meals that make our taste buds happy.

Some people are compassionate healers, nurturing others back to health.

Some people are great listeners who can help us through situations and find solutions we never thought of.

Some people are dexterous with their hands and able to take materials to make furniture and buildings.

Some people uplift others by playing musical instruments or singing.

Some people excel at cleaning, organizing, assembling, spelling or solving complex mathematical equations.

Some people think of preposterous ideas that change how we think.

Some people invent new technology to make everyone’s life easier.

Some people play characters that we can identify with.

Some people create art that speaks to our soul.

Some people are wonderful at making others feel better with just a smile.

We all have at least one special talent that is unique to us.

No one gift is more important than another because when all gifts are shared, they create a wonderful world.

Because each of us is a different shape and size than the next person, so too our gifts come in different shapes and sizes.

So many of us go through our work days in drudgery just to pay the bills.

Some of us don’t appreciate what we have or use our gifts at all. Some of us don’t even realize that we have them by never taking the time to try something new.

Imagine wrapping a present and never giving it to anyone. That’s what it is like to not appreciate your gift. It stays in the box, unopened.

When I was a kid, we called our unique talents God-given gifts. They are gifts of the spirit and our souls want us to use them.

What if we all shared our gift with at least one other person each day? It would make us happier and that in turn could create a happier world.

Think of it this way:

Our gifts are the presents we get to share.

Always,
Alice Always

Thank You, J.K. Rowling, For Reminding All of Us that We are Magical Beings

On the 20th Anniversary of Harry Potter, I would like to honor J.K. Rowling and her creative contribution our collective imagination by introducing us all to Harry Potter. An entire generation has grown up with Harry and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling. Thank you for shining your light and sharing your gift with the world.

I remember seeing the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in the late 90s. I was at my brother’s house and the book was on an end table in the family room. My niece was reading it and I asked her about it. She told me it was about a boy wizard who went to a school called Hogwarts. The next few months I kept hearing about it, committing to read it someday.

Unless you have kids of your own, other things take precedence over reading children’s books and I never got around to reading it until right before the first movie came out in 2001.

I enjoyed both the book and movie so much that I went on to read more of the novels, though regretfully, I never finished the series. I hope to someday.

The thing that struck me most was that J.K. Rowling had brought forth a magical world that has become entwined in our consciousness in a purely imaginative way. It allowed us to see the world differently from how we experienced it up until that point.

You see profiles of people on Facebook who say they are Hogwarts graduates and professors. Some adults are using their imagination to change how they view their childhoods. Instead of reliving unpleasant memories, we can reframe our past and see it in a whole new light. We can create happy thoughts.

When young children play, they can go deep into their fantasy and really feel that they are the characters that they imagine. Why do adults forget to play like that? Why do we call it pretending? Is it because we are afraid of what other adults will think?

What if we allowed ourselves to be whatever awesome playful character we choose to be at any moment? Our playfulness might spread to others and everyone could lighten up, smile and laugh. Wow! Life would take on a whole new level of magic!

We are all magical beings with abilities to create worlds of wonder. J.K. Rowling showed us where her imagination took her. Where does your imagination take you?

Always,
Alice Always

Playing with Imagination and Where It Can Take Us (To Infinity and Beyond)

Let’s play Rorschach Test. You know, that fun psychological evaluation exercise where you are shown an inkblot picture and you get to decipher what you see in it? Before you read any further, look at the above picture and think about what it says to you.

This is an experiment because I don’t have any idea what people will see.

So go ahead. I’ll wait.

You can post in the comments what you thought if you’d like. I’d love to see what everyone has to say.

If you said that it looks like an air hockey game, that would be correct. But if you never had any knowledge of air hockey, you might not say that.

I was going to title this post “The Goal of this Blog” but that seemed so generic and I’m not a very generic kind of girl. When I think about the word “goal” the first image that comes to my mind is an old air hockey game from the 1970s. You might picture a goal chart, a mountain, your own personal goal, a star or something that is significant to you. I see air hockey, a game from my childhood.

As I said in my last post, I have this outrageous idea that through using our imagination, we can create a peaceful and loving world. It is outrageous to me because I am still working on personal issues such as self-love and self-worth. Maybe you are also.

Most of us have something in us that we need to overcome. Sometimes it is a limiting belief that has been handed down from our parents, who had it handed down from their parents. Maybe someone said something negative to us as a young child and we took it to heart. Our hearts need to be healed. Our inner children need to be healed.

I look at this blog as a social experiment to help myself and others restore our innocence through imagination and play, and to see where it takes us. Hopefully, it will go far, like Buzz Lightyear always says: To Infinity and Beyond!

It’s my sincere hope that I continue on on this path of healing and that you join me.

Always,
Alice Always

Please comment below if you see something different than an air hockey game. I’d love to hear about any different perceptions of this picture.

Who is Alice Always and Why Does This Alice in Wonderland Look Like A Peanuts Character?

When it came to writing this blog, I wanted to adopt a playful theme, something that people would immediately recognize as childlike without being too childish. I wanted it to exude that innocence of childhood and for me, that is typified by the Peanuts cartoon strip by Charles M. Schulz.

I really can relate to each of the characters in Peanuts.

Snoopy is my wonderful imagination, and like his escapades, I often find myself in my own reverie. Sally is the little sister that I have always felt like, even though I am a big sister to my little sister. Linus with his security blanket and philosophical temperament, is my the ultimate dreamer self, believing in things that no one else does like the Great Pumpkin. Lucy as the psychiatrist exemplifies my fascination with psychology and her own self-absorption is something that makes me reflect upon mine. Schroeder is the artist in me, creating art for art’s sake and truly immersed in the world of music as I immerse in painting as my art. And like Charlie Brown, I am prone to depression and anxiety and tend to over-analyze both myself and whatever situation I find myself in.

I could write entire books on each character and how each of us can relate to the Peanuts gang in our own way. Perhaps someday I will write more on this blog about them.

You can tell I have a fascination with Peanuts. I obviously also have one with Alice in Wonderland. So what better way to celebrate this by creating a mashup? Before The Peanuts Movie came out, the website peanutsizeme.com was created to promote it. I’m glad it’s still up because I really enjoy playing with it. I created a character there and I Photoshopped it a bit to make it appear more like Alice In Wonderland. Because I didn’t want to infringe on copyright, I emailed the people at Peanuts about using it on my blog, but I never heard back. So, no news is good news, right?

I am currently writing two books about Alice in Wonderland. After these are finished, I anticipate more. One book is entitled Alice Awakes, which is about spiritual awakening and imagination. The second book is a children’s book that is about Alice returning to Wonderland. There is more info to come on these books and I hope that you will enjoy them someday.

Alice Always is a facet of myself. She is a persona that is me as a curiouser and curiouser being in the world of imagination.

Remember when you were a kid and you would pretend to be whoever you wanted to be? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can still be that person.

I am . . .

Always,
Alice Always