Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, is a journey through the imagination of a man, who by all immediate interpretations could be mad. As a child I sat in a corner on the cusp of a literary experience unlike any I had hitherto encountered, I opened the book, and down Carroll’s rabbit hole I fell. I was dumbfounded, astonished, inspired. It wasn’t Carroll’s creation of something completely new that struck me so, but rather the alteration of reality that he managed to create by weaving together his imagination and his reality that captured my attention. I was instantaneously whisked away into Alice’s dream, and my mind, and imagination were henceforth opened to the endless possibilities that exist in life and all that is.

I now sit upon a cloud watching as a girl not unlike myself sits under a tree, dreaming, a willing victim to her boundless, and in some ways naive imagination. Her name, Alice. Her imagination inspired me, opened my mind to the concept of possibilities being ever present everywhere. I was drawn to her wondrous disposition, and have gone through life ever since with ceaseless wonder, continuously inspired by my surroundings, and the possibilities that dwell about me.

Now, life is not always easy, but, if approached with the same acceptance, curiosity, and awe that Alice exemplifies throughout her adventures in Wonderland, bumps along life’s winding road can at least be taken with more grace, and be less crippling then they may have otherwise been.

Alice follows wherever her path takes her, astonished by nothing, only curious as to the origin of the floating grin that appears out of nowhere, or to the reason why the rabbit is in such a rush; late, always late to some important date. Curiosity is the key with which one can find the entrance to a life of positivity and progression sans the senseless bounds society has established around reality, imagination, and that which is and isn’t real.

So, reader of mine (I can’t decide if addressing you as such is cute or getting old…), I urge you to go, and sit under a tree, as Alice once did. Close your eyes, and open your mind. No, I’m not urging you to take a nap, though I have nothing against naps. I think they’re lovely, just wait a minute. Don’t drift off, not now, not yet. Listen to the birds in the trees. Listen to the wind blowing through the leaves. Listen to the squirrels chattering about where they stored their last acorns. Listen. Now, open your eyes, and notice. Notice how the birds flit from branch to branch, and about the courtyard looking for crumbs. Notice how the light hits the leaves of the trees overhead. And notice how the squirrels prance through the grass, attempting to be sneaky as they gather the supplies they'll need for the coming winter. Notice. Be present to your surroundings, breath in the now cool fall air, and see where your mind takes you.

Let go of that paper due next Tuesday, that reading for class on Monday, and practice that must be done for piano on Thursday, and be present. Our minds are wondrous, exciting, intriguing places that often go unexplored though we seem to spend so much time with them. They’re like that book you carry around with you everywhere intending to read, but haven’t opened. I guess it’s a bit daunting to think about at first…”What if I have no thoughts? What if I just end up sitting there, eventually overwhelmed because I’m not working?” You might ask yourself. And, it’s possible that nothing will come to mind, but being in that space of complete openness to the world, the nature, and the energies about you is inspiring, relaxing, and fulfilling. I invite you to reintroduce yourself to that mind of yours, and see what happens. Trust me, or “Try me” as the cookie read in Alice in Wonderland. Although you likely won’t grow exponentially taller, your perspective just might, and with it, the leaves may clear, revealing the path to the possibilities that lie before you. So, go to that tree, listen, and notice. You might just enter a “world of pure imagination.”