"Be careful, you are not in Wonderland. I've heard the strange madness long growing in your soul. But you are fortunate in your ignorance, in your isolation. You who have suffered, find where love hides. Give, share, lose — lest we die, unbloomed." — Austin Bunn & John Krokidas, "Kill Your Darlings"
This quote was created by piecing together snippets of Allen Ginsberg's first few poems. And though it has been months since I've heard those lines spoken on screen, this quote has stayed with me for longer than I could have imagined. At first, listen, it could sound like a pretentious literary line that could have been said by any 20th-century writer. But at second glance, it's so much more. Because it has ingrained something in my mind. It's a message to anyone doubting their will to live, and it actually means, "You deserve to stay alive."
Ginsberg is right. We, in fact, are not in wonderland. We are, in reality, a multifaceted society in which it's hard to comprehend what is right and what is wrong, what we should fight for and what we should let go of. We have been beaten down on, suppressed in our own perspectives of what is "accepted" in the public world and what we must keep to ourselves. It's sometimes the most terrifying thing in the world to truly be yourself.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
You might not be in wonderland, but you can create your own version of it. A version of your life that doesn't feel screwed up, where you can embrace what you were given when you were put into this world. Yes, there are reasons why we feel like everything is going downhill. There are reasons why you don't feel like there's another chance to hold on to. But there is always another side to your story. There is always going to something that you can hang on to that will make you feel okay. Embrace that.
We have suffered, but we are still here. And while we're still here, it is our duty to find what will turn our world into a wonderland. There is a plethora of opportunities waiting for us if we will only accept that we deserve to seize them. You haven't failed yourself yet, I promise. You haven't failed yourself unless you've left us without "blooming" into the person you are meant to be.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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