Tag: curiouser and curiouser

My Spiritual Awakening: It All Started With A Mouse

Back in May 1991, I was 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 rain ponchos with a Disney emblem on them. One of us (maybe 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 did not 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 beloved 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 – 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

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

 

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.

The Present of Being Present: Awareness

I started writing this post exactly 4 months ago today. At that time, I was working at a job that was wreaking havoc on my health. It’s rather curious that I would return to this post on the exact same day (on the 23rd of all days – more about that another time). It’s also rather curious that my mind would be concerned with being present. My present (yes, pun intended) circumstances lend a lot to what is happening.

I will say this now and probably will say it again and again:

There are no accidents,
only lack of awareness of what is happening.

Here is what I wrote on June 23, 2017:

The word for today is present. Every single day, not just this one, that is, if we are truly present.

I’m in a very difficult situation. I work at a back-breaking job and I’m reaching my personal breaking point as Humpty Dumpty in regards to my joints.

I have arthritis in my fingers, wrists, neck, back, hips and now possibly in the knee. Pain is par for the course.

I just came back from the doctor. I wanted relief. He said I’ll just have to live with it.

I refuse to accept pain as a way of life.

Today, October 23, 2017, I am experiencing severe pain in my joints throughout my body. There is a low-pressure front and it is causing swelling.  On days like today, the stiffness makes me move extremely slow like an Ent.

I’m not complaining about this. I am trying to illustrate what it feels like to have widespread arthritis with a bit of humor. I’ve been doing a mental exercise to alleviate the pain by just observing it. In time I hope to be in a pain-free life, but that is not today.

This morning when I woke up an old poem I wrote years ago came to my head:

After we see
the beauty
of our own pain
then we begin

The image of a painting I did that was based on that poem also flashed through my mind. Here it is:

“Beauty of Pain” by Ginny Gaura

I created this mixed-media piece about 15 years ago when the arthritis was localized to my lower back. I didn’t create this painting because of physical pain. I was experiencing emotional pain back then.

But pain is pain whether it is emotional or physical. It is not pleasant.

Back in the early 2000s my fingers were just beginning to develop osteophytes, bone spurs that disfigure my joints. Back then, I didn’t have pain in my hands, I just had a few swollen joints. Now the hand pain is sometimes so severe that daily activities such as typing can cause pain. Also, my fingers are crooked on my right, which is the dominant hand.

I am only 55. My mom developed bone spurs in her hands later in life. When she passed at 77, her joints were not as disfigured as mine are now.

I have had back issues since I was a teenager and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the spine with bone spurs in my thirties, so the illness has had a long time to progress.

Someone in the public eye claimed that his bone spurs got better. At least from my experience, bone spurs only get worse with time.

Sometimes there is a gift within the pain if we allow ourselves to see it. For me, it is awareness. I am aware of what is hurting but I am not letting it overpower my life. I am listening to my body, moving it slowly and treating it with care. What is happening is allowing me to open more fully in awareness, to see things in a more intense light, to be more present in the moment.

What new awareness have you had recently?

Always,
Alice Always

 

My Curiouser and Curiouser Fascination with Words, Words, Words

In Act II of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is found in the library by Polonius where they engage in a conversation. At one point Polonius asks Hamlet what he is reading and his response is: “Words, words, words.”

It is one of my favorite lines from Willie the Bard, nothing is more succinct and to the point. Yes, Prince Hamlet could have replied with a simple one syllable “Words”, but as another late great Prince so aptly sang it in his song, “Joy in Repetition“:

There’s joy in repetition
There’s joy in repetition
There’s joy in repetition
There’s joy in repetition

If you read Alice in Wonderland (or saw any of the movies), you would know that the author Lewis Carroll used words that were unusual, to say the least. A word like curiouser appears to be poor grammar because it does not follow the standard rules of the English language. The -er ending is almost never used with words of more than two syllables.

According to the Old English Dictionary, the word curiouser was first used by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland in 1865, as the phrase “curiouser and curiouser”. The OED cites this phrase only, and does not treat curiouser as a word by itself; the phrase has the meaning “increasingly strange”.

I think that by repeating the word twice, you are reinforcing it and expounding of the notion of curiouser, making what is already strange, stranger even still.

I like to look at “curiouser and curiouser” and see it as something that attracts your attention, something that you never saw before, like almost everything in the Alice books. Every new experience makes Alice think and that is what words do for me.

I enjoy researching the etymology of words, or word origins if you prefer. It can be fascinating to find out where words come from, how they evolve and their impact on our consciousness.

Always,
Alice Always