Tag: wonder

My Spiritual Awakening: It All Started With A Mouse

Back in May 1991, I went on vacation with my sister and a friend. My sister had just received her master’s degree and wanted to celebrate by going to someplace special. So we went to what some consider the most magical place in the world: Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

I had been there twice before the trip, so I knew how wonderful it could be. This time was no different and every moment of the vacation was fun, even when it rained. On a rainy afternoon, we saw many people wearing slick plastic ponchos with a Disney emblem on them. One of us (quite possibly me because I have a propensity for naming things) made up the term “Poncho Villa people”. You have to understand those transparent rain ponchos were a new concept back then and to us, they looked incredibly silly as a cultural phenomenon. We did not become assimilated into their cult and did our best to navigate umbrella-less throughout the Land of Mickey.

I have to pause from my story and say that I love Mickey Mouse, I have my entire life. One of my favorite t-shirts is an all-over print of various Mickey Mouse heads that I bought on this particular trip. At times, I call my boyfriend “Mickey” and sometimes sing parts of the catchy Toni Basil song Hey Mickey to him.

We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, which is on the grounds of Walt Disney World so that we could go to all the theme parks by boat, shuttle or monorail, and never-ever step one foot off of Disney property. I feel that staying within the complex is the most magical way to visit this enchanted realm. When I’m there, I never want to leave. If you feel the same way about any Disney park, it’s partly because of the pixie dust that Tinker Bell and her friends sprinkle on you when you’re not looking.

On the last day of our trip, we checked out of the hotel and had several hours to spend until our afternoon flight. We found some lounge chairs along the beach and I quickly fell asleep.

I don’t know how much time had passed when a voice woke me up with the words: Write the book. Write the book that you always came here to write.

My epiphany was part of my spiritual awakening, A voice that didn’t sound like my own thoughts, was telling me something that was in my own heart. (Read more about my ideas of spiritual awakening here.)

I got home and started writing a fantasy novel. I adored the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and always thought that I would write something along the sword and sorcery vein. The date was May 23rd; I remember it because it was my friend’s birthday.

Over time, the book I wrote morphed into another one and I sent the manuscripts off to publishers. They were rejected each time. Because I was one of those people who could not handle rejection well, years passed in between submissions to publishers. At one point, I stopped submitting altogether.

Meanwhile, I started writing the third book in the trilogy, completing several chapters and the ending. Most of the middle is not yet written, though the final chapter is. And that is the important part because it ends on a high note.

Writing a novel is a journey in itself. For me, it was an exploration of my own psyche, a map of my subconsciousness that took me years to understand. My fantasy novels are not structured writings with carefully outlined details but rather an unfolding of the story that occurs only when I’m ready. My books write themselves, or rather, they write me, revealing wisdom that I had forgotten. I had many serendipitous moments when I stumbled across another author’s work whose use of magic resembled my own. Perhaps we are all drawing from the same well.

23 years after my magical nap, it is May 2014 and I go on a trip with my boyfriend to celebrate his birthday. Just as Walt Disney World is my special place, the mountains are his, so we went to the Rockies.

It was there that I began to awaken to the realization that the book that I was meant to write wasn’t just another fantasy novel.

The puzzle pieces that had been scattered throughout my life began to fit together. I have always been fascinated with Alice in Wonderland, especially Disney’s cartoon movie. I love the 2010 version with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, who also plays Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. Do you know what my favorite ride is at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom? Yep! You guessed it! Pirates of the Caribbean.

In college in the 80’s, I did a pointillism project for an Illustration class. It was a picture of Alice falling down a rabbit hole and it took me over 40 hours to complete. (I will share that another time.)

In the 90’s, I had a shaman call me Alice and took me on a journey of shapeshifting. I also trained in shamanism and began the healing of my inner child, the Alice within me.

For many years, my boyfriend has owned a white rabbit statue. As a Christmas present in 2009, he gave me a drawing of a rabbit that he had created. Another time, he gave me a rabbit statue. I never told him of my Alice fascination but seeing each one leads me deeper down the rabbit hole of my own imagination.

I credit Walt Disney for waking me up. As I awaken to remembering more parts of my cosmic puzzle-self, I am seeing with renewed clarity how everything is connected through consciousness As I expand in my awareness, insights come to me which feel that they were always there. I just never looked at them.

It’s all about perception. While you may not share my love of the magic of Walt Disney,  you may have a curiouser idea that you don’t share with others because of an underlying fear, like rejection. Or you do share it and people act like you are entirely bonkers.

I’m completely bonkers and I’m happy to admit it.
I have ideas that are out of this world.
Maybe you do too.

My last post was about waking up as a Jedi. As audacious and maybe even childish as it sounds, I’ve always felt that I am a Jedi Knight ever since seeing the first Star Wars movie in a theatre in 1977. Now that Star Wars is part of Disney, it confirms my long-held belief that George Lucas didn’t invent Star Wars, he was merely awakening us to the wonders of the Force that we had forgotten.

It is my hope to someday contribute to Disney in a creative manner. All possibilities exist in multidimensionality, so that might still happen in this Universe.

I am certain that humanity will eventually see how multi-faceted, interconnected, and real the world of imagination actually is.

I believe that voice that woke me up in 1991 was Walt Disney. And just as he said, it all started with a mouse.

Always,
Alice Always

P.S. I would like to hear about your personal experience with spiritual awakening or your curiouser beliefs. Please share in the comments.

Diary of an Elf – Reading the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien

Diary of an Elf is a reoccurring feature here on AliceAlways.com. Alice shares her story as her elf-self.

Since I knew that I might be in the closet of Elf Cabin Number 9 indefinitely, I looked around for ways to entertain myself. On a shelf high above my head, I found my personal Holy Grail: the fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Hobbit

We call him Master Tolkien, as he is known here to us elves at the North Pole. His writings inspire us greatly. They remind us that in our imaginations, we are not just short peeps with generally pleasant dispositions, but also tall, fierce warrior types as depicted in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As I said before, in your imagination, you can be whatever magical being you choose to be.

In the closet, I moved the rolling shelf ladder along the wall to the place where I could climb it and get the books. When I got to the top, I grabbed them. The books felt like magic in my hands.

My memory flew back many years to the first time that I held The Hobbit in my hands.

It happened in September 1973. I was 11 years old in the 6th grade and picked to be in a special reading group of students. Back in the day, teachers had to order books and wait weeks for their arrival to come in a big cardboard box.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Mrs. B had gathered us around the box and was handing out the paperbacks. On the cover was a top white area with the title, subhead, and the author’s name. Under that was an illustration of peeps (my word for people) riding on barrels down a winding river with trees on the riverbank.

Before she handed us our books, Mrs. B told us that this was an extraordinary book and that it came to us in a momentous time. The author had just passed away, she said and so reading it now would be extra special.

Wow, I thought, really not understanding the specialness on a conscious level. I knew somehow deep inside myself that this author J.R.R. Tolkien and I were connected.

After I was given the book, I turned it over to see a picture of the author, a profile image of a smiling grey-haired gentleman holding a pipe. An old building was in the background.

I opened the book and smelled it. I fell in love with the scent of words on paper. If you have never smelled a freshly printed book, you might want to try it. It is like nothing else in this world.

Throughout the school year, we read The Hobbit and the three The Lord of the Rings books in class.

I was thoroughly enchanted by Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth. I would think about it all the time. In my imagination, I envisioned myself as several of the characters.

I was a full-blown geek. I still am. I embrace my geekiness wholeheartedly.

After school had ended, I spent the summer rereading the trilogy. Then I started looking for more information about Tolkien and his work.

Back in the early seventies, resources for a preteen were far and in between.

At some point, I came across a writing of Tolkien’s in which he said wrote that he never felt that he had created Middle Earth, he was merely recording the events as they were happening somewhere else.

When I read that, I knew that to be true deep down in my soul. I also knew I had to do something in regards to this. I didn’t know what.

Now I do.

To be continued…

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

P.S. Make sure you bookmark AliceAlways or subscribe to find out what happens next.

Diary of an Elf – Day 3: Greetings from the Closet at Cabin Number 9

I’m still in the closet at Cabin Number 9 or Number 9, Number 9, Number 9 as innumerable Beatles fans here call it.

For the record, Elves love music, especially Classic Rock.

It appears that since I did not announce my arrival at Santa’s Magical Realm at the North Pole, no one knows that I’m here.

I came here in the middle of the night and made myself comfy in the only spot available. Because no one knew I was coming, someone or some peeps put a large barrier across the door and I’m stuck in the closet.

I have been since the night of December 26.

Imagine the wonderful feeling of being in one of the most magical places but having no one to share it with. It would be like you are living in a world that no one else is aware of.

It gets lonely in the dark.

 

So I’ll have to wait until the party music simmers down and/or someone hears my knocking.

The thing is, Elves really know how to party with loud music and pointy party favor hats, so I might be here awhile.

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

Diary of an Elf – Day 1: The Day After Christmas

What better day to start a diary than the day after Christmas?

I can use a fresh journal to journal my journey.

Why wait until New Year’s Day when you can begin today or even yesterday?

If I could, yes, I would. . .   If I could, I would. . . 

Sorry about that. I drifted off on a tangent of reverie.

Back to reality.

I’m at the North Pole.

At the North Pole, we call today Ruby Tuesday, named such because this year Christmas fell on a Monday.

Why Ruby Tuesday? you may ask.

I’m sure someone somewhere will figure out the answer.

Santa’s sleigh ride stirs up powerful Magic of Wonder Energy the week following Christmas. If you allow yourself to go deep into the depths of our collective imagination, you can feel it. If you sit with it, you with feel it stirring within you. If you go deep enough, you can create wonderful ideas that you thought you would never think of before that moment.

But you did.

Did I confuse you? Because I didn’t want to confuse you, just wake you up to that Magic of Wonder Energy that is flowing right now.

About me… I am sitting in the dark while I write this in Cabin Number 9.

Seeing an Elf in a mall a few days ago sparked memories that I had long forgotten. The need to be among my Elven kin grew strong in me, so I went to Santa’s Magical Realm at the North Pole, where you can always find Elves.

When I got back here all the beds in the dorms and deluxe suites were taken so I ended up in a closet with U-Haul boxes and clothing from previous occupants.

I was lucky enough to get a bed with a mattress. You know, some people living outside on the streets don’t have that luxury. I could sympathize with them just a little, the temperature in my closet was freezing. I am grateful I have a parka to keep me warm under the covers.

As anyone who has been here can tell you, it gets cold in the North Pole. Long Johns are a necessity and sometimes you have to even wear your parka to sleep.

So I’m up in the middle of a cold winter’s night writing this.

I don’t know how long I’m going to stay here. We’ll just see how it goes.

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

Why I Will Always Believe in Santa

I believe in Santa Claus. I always have, I always will.

You can debate that he doesn’t exist until you are blue in the face as a Smurf, I won’t believe you.

I believe in endless vistas of imagination. I live there.

I believe in the magic that lives in hearts of children. It lives within me too.

I live in a world of wonder.

Santa is an inspiration to me. He opens up to our collective imagination, the one we are creating together.

Like the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland, I sometimes think of six impossible things before breakfast. Let’s apply that to Santa Claus.

Here’s six impossible things that Santa does:

  1. Knows if everyone has been naughty or nice.
  2. Flies through the air on a giant sleigh, heavily laden with toys and other gifts.
  3. His aforementioned sleigh is powered by eight reindeer, nine in inclement weather when a light is needed.
  4. Goes up and down chimneys, seemingly propelled by magic.
  5. He transports himself and any oversized gifts down all those chimneys without getting stuck.
  6. Delivers gifts all over the world on one night of the year.

Santa accomplishes things that no one else in the world can do. His joyful Ho-Ho-Hos create energy bubbles of laughter throughout the world. That jolly dude is the personification of magic and wonder.

He is the Spirit of Christmas.

I do believe in Santa, I do, I do!
I do believe in Santa, I do, I do!
I do believe in Santa, I do, I do!

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

The Elf I Met at the Shopping Mall

This time of year, you see all kinds of people holiday shopping including Elves.

Shhhhh! Don’t tell Santa that some Elves are ditching work in the Gift Wrap Room at the Big House. With only a few days until Santa’s annual sleigh ride, it’s crunch time! All hands are needed to write names on those little itty-bitty teeny-weeny tiny tags. Not to mention, forefingers are required to hold down the intersecting ribbon on gifts so that other, more nimble, fingers can make knots and tie everything all together.

In terms of Elven jobs, this part of the gift process is crucial, because, without enough workers, chaos ensues at the North Pole and Elves can get a little grumpy.

Believe me, you don’t want to be near a grumpy Elf. More about that in Diary of an Elf (coming to a theatre near you, in the near or not so near future, depending on when you are reading this).

I kinda have to write the book first. So I’m starting with blog posts.

This time of year, it’s important that all North Pole Elves are present and accounted for. Like many humans, some Elves feel like they have to give presents during the last few weeks of the year instead of celebrating the joy of rebirth each and every day.

Is it end of the year gift-giving or just gift-giving procrastination?

Even Elves forget, but that’s a story for another day.

Back to this one.

A few days ago, I was at a store in my local strip mall when I saw a person shopping in the ladies clothing section, her back turned to me.

She was wearing a Santa-style hat. I was incognito, looking like your average Suzie Shopper, not at all like Suzie Snowflake with a snow-white gown.

Being in a super-silly mood, I just had to talk to her.

I walked up to her and she turned to look at me.

“Aren’t you one of those Elves from the North Pole?” I asked.

She looked surprised and hesitated for the briefest of moments. Then she lit up like a star atop a Christmas tree.

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

“I thought so,” I said. “Elf Cabin Number 9, right?”

I didn’t give her time to answer. I turned and disappeared into the endless racks of clothing.

I recognize my own. Elves and Faeries, that is.

Now you’re thinking: I thought she was supposed to be Alice in Wonderland.

Yep. Alice is about wonder and imagination. So are Elves and Faeries.

Just like a child, I can be any magical being that I choose to be.

So can you.

Always,
Alice Always the Elf

P.S. The t-shirts in the picture are available in assorted colors and sizes on Amazon! Let It Shine Sun Rays and Let It Shine with Lyrics.

R U Awake or in Living in The Matrix?

Today, I can’t seem to get the red pill/blue pill scene from The Matrix out of my head. When an idea “pops” in your head and keeps coming back, it might be trying to tell you something.

It’s time for me to look further into it, which is about reality.

In the scene, Morpheus offers Neo a choice between the Blue Pill and the Red Pill. If Neo takes the blue, he continues to live in a computer-generated world. If he takes the red, he will enter the real world so that he can escape from the Matrix.

There are many levels of meaning in just the colors of the pills alone.

Blue is a cool color, representing peace and serenity. It is the color of the sky, which reflects our perception of water, even though water itself is clear.

Red is a warm color, representing the heat of passion, both love and anger. It is the color of fire, which warms as well as burns.

Blue has always been my favorite color. If I was given the choice of pills without knowing what either did, I would have chosen the Blue Pill.

Out of favorite colors, blue is the most popular in the world. Here in the USA, red lags behind green and purple.

You have to consider that some things are just not appealing so maybe I wouldn’t take the blue pill because it’s plain odd. For me, blue Gatorade is just the most curious beverage and even if it is the best flavor in the world, I might not like it. So I never tried it.

Here in the United States, we have started coloring the states with two colors instead of using other colors in the crayon box.

I remember coloring a map of the USA back in 4th grade for a class contest. I was excited to beautify my mimeographed copy of America. I wanted to use as many colors as possible from my box of 64 Crayola crayons (with the sharpener on the box). A highlight of my school memories was getting a copy fresh from the mimeograph machine, with its fresh smell and crisp purple lines.

Red and blue mixed together make purple. In terms of color, we are a purple nation. I’II think I’ll skip the Pharmaceuticals of the Matrix and take the purple crayon.

I like coloring, No, I love it. I wish I had time to color but lately, the time has been speeding by. Maybe you noticed it also?

Today is 12/21, so I made the graphic with the time of 12:21.

Here is information about 1221 from Joanne Walmsley’s Sacred Scribes Angel Numbers blog:

Number 1221 is a combination of the influences of number 1 (appearing twice, amplifying its influences) and the vibrations of number 2 (also appearing twice, magnifying its attributes and resonating with the Master Number 22).  Number 1 brings its energies of creation and new beginnings, progress and motivation, striving forward, inspiration and initiative, achieving success, fulfilment and happiness.  Number 1 also reminds you that you create your own experiences and realities with your beliefs, thoughts and actions.  Number 2 brings its attributes of balance and harmony, partnerships and relationships, adaptability, diplomacy and co-operation, encouragement, duality, faith and trust and serving your Divine life purpose and soul mission.  Number 2 appears twice, relating it to the Master Number 22 (Master Builder) –  the number of philanthropy and service to humanity. Number 22 is the number of Archangel Raphael and resonates with vision, practicality and common sense.

The repeating Angel Number 1221 reminds you to be grateful for all the blessings in your life, and for those yet to come.  When you express an ‘attitude of gratitude’ you manifest even more blessings.  Your angels ask you to follow your Divine life path with passion and purpose.

Angel Number 1221 tells you that your reality is what you make it.

So which pill would you take? You don’t really have to take either.

Just keep reading my blog and you may eventually wake up in Wonderland.

Always,
Alice Always

 

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

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

Spring is Springing Up All Over

I loved the Google Doodle from the Fall Equinox that I had to post the one for Spring Equinox. I was just going to flip the graphics on the page but I decided to lookup the one Google posted for 2017.

This Spring Equinox 2017 Google Doodle has magical quality to it. A mouse wakes up in his underground home and goes above ground to get a daffodil to put in a vase, then he goes back to sleep and the flower disappears from his home and grows above ground. Magic!

Don’t you think its odd he has a broom? I mean he lives in a hole filled with dirt! Does he sweep all the dirt under the doormat?

Perhaps a future Google Doodle will show him spring cleaning and the dirt will magically disappear. It reminds me of another mouse named Mickey who had a broom and well, things got a little out of hand. But that’s a story for another day.

Always,
Alice Always