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.