Just a thought....
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Saturday, 05 March 2011

A fairy tales

A repost from way back in 2007...


The title is all wrong, I know, but honestly, I did start with a fairy tale, but as my thoughts wandered, I ended up with a few. I suppose the title should have been "Alice in Wonderland and other tales", as it was Alice who got me going.

One thing we brought with us to Brazil is my upside-down book. Holding it one way, I had the stories of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the looking glass" and flipping it over, I had "The five little Peppers and how they grew". I loved that book, not for the stories inside (confession... I never did read "The five little Peppers"), but for its upside-downness. I never could do handstands, so I would often find myself hanging off the edge of my bed, surveying my world from a different angle.

I got to thinking this morning that I am much like Alice... often bewildered at the oddities that life tosses my way. Some days, I eat my slice of mushroom for breakfast and I grow. For the day, I feel big and capable and sometimes, even powerful. Though sometimes, the bigness makes me uncomfortable and clumsy and not fitting in anywhere. Other times, I take a sip of what is meant to be my coffee and I shrink. I would feel so small and easily trodden on. It has its advantages though in that I often fit into places and situations then that I wouldn't otherwise fit into as me, but then, who is me... and how big is me?

Then I got to thinking about the creatures... sorry... people we meet. A couple of days ago, the doorbell rang. At the gate was a youngster of around school-leaving age. Tea cosy pulled down over his ears, random piercings, baggy clothes... Yep, you guessed it. My instinct was to shake my head at a distance and tell him 'no' without finding out what mischief he was up to. I went to talk to him though. He carefully showed me his student ID card and then proceeded to tell me how they were on a drive to collect clothing and such for charity. Well, I never... Then there's the lady I met a little while back. She was determined to be friendly. I said to Tat, "but I have absolutely nothing in common with her!" This lady has taught me a few things, indirectly, of course, one of them being that there's room in my life for all kinds of people and I don't have to have anything in common with them. Heck, I may just discover something new, such as how much fun Mad Hatter's tea parties can be!

Some days, I'm a lion, desperately needing courage. Other days, I need a brain (actually, most days), then there are days, to my shame, when I need a heart. Tat will tell you that I'm quite capable of being the Wicked Witch of the West, when all I want to do is click my heals and go home, but home is so very far away. So in the meantime, I spend my days running away from the evil stepmother who is determined to feed me the poisoned apple or playing with the little children in Never Never Land. I live with Peter Pan, y'know ;)


*for Tat - have fun!*

27 comments:

  1. You know, the moment I saw your image of the staircase, my brain went: M.C. Escher. You nailed it!
    What a lovely post.

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  2. That photo was taken in an old school building where Tat was modelling at the time. I loved the lighting and wanted to capture it. There were sunbeams playing on the old stairs.

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  3. What a nice blog. You've put words on the page describing me too. I think you miss Tat a lot. I miss being me, whoever that was.

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  4. :) Kat, I miss her terribly. We were (are) best of friends.

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  5. *smile* I'd love to spend some time with you inside your storybook. :)

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  6. Mad Hatter's tea party, Kippy? Complete with cake?

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  7. Mmmm .. I could go for that right now! Maybe I'll get Leslie to cater. ;)

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  8. I like the idea, but right now, I'd just settle for cake.... or chocolate... or some of that bread pudding... or... Well, you get the idea.

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  9. I do. And I'm right there with you. I might just have to run to the store tonight ...

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  10. I like this. We can't always tell at the outset what a person is really like, and how the friendship will progress. Everyone needs a chance, just as we would like to be given a chance when first met.

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  11. Just lovely! How true we can make friends that we have nothing in common with,
    Such insight..you are always so wise!

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  12. Got me thinking..What FairyTale am I??

    Alice in Wonderland (there has to be a bit of AIW and Peter Pan in all of us???)...crossed with The Frog Prince...(Ive kissed a few frogs in my life!!)

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  13. sweet & funny. :) i've got a lot of mad hatter's and such in my life! i'm glad we've got our prince charmings though. ;)

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  14. Such a lovely post to read right before bed time *wink* I enjoyed it so much! Any story to share about 'Tint, the Wicked Witch of the West'?! And as Heather said, you made me think what fairy tale I am! Probably, Snow White's Seven Dwarfs live in me, all together for sure! and depending on the day, one or the other gets out ;)

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  15. I think I would be the rabbit dashing around, late & scatterbrained as usual. And Nanny in Peter Pan, and Grumpy in snow white.

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  16. Today, I feel like Goldilocks and the bear. My porridge was cold and I'm just hanging out here temporarily, trying the beds and chairs.

    Faye, it's a lesson I have to learn on a regular basis, but it's slowly sinking in.

    Janet, no.... hardly wise. I just think far too much : )

    Heather, you've also kissed a few toads ; ) lol

    Kimmy, I wouldn't go as far as prince charming with mine. I think I married the mad hatter ; )

    Dani, I can be really mean when the occasion calls for it. Having all the dwarves living in you must get confusing.

    Katey, the rabbit is so you! And the nanny who was arguably my favourite character in the story. I always thought it a pity that he didn't go with on the adventures. Grumpy, no.

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  17. After taking us on delightful tours of the world around you it was really a enjoyable privilege to journey with you this way. Judging from the comments you have set us all "thinking" about that vast and sometimes unexplored inner world.

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  18. Theo, my inner world can be a busy and confusing place. I'm glad the 'journey' wasn't too scary : )

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  19. It was fine, we had padkos ;)

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  20. Hm.... what kind of padkos?

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  21. Flings! Or one of those 2m bags with the bright orange plastic chippies in them. And a couple of cans of condense milk. And some guava juice.

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  22. Ooooooooooh Flings! Condensed milk... I put some lemon in mine... makes an awesome dessert (and it's healthy too... think of the vit.C)

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  23. Very fun story telling~

    PS. I have an evil stepmother and could write tons of stories on that subject.

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  24. I LOVE this one. ;-) I relate to all your alter-egos perfectly.
    Some days I'm the Cheshire cat... all that's left is a frantic smile.

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  25. Sandy, most of us can talk about other characters. That's the easy part. It's finding the character in yourself that is tricky.

    Michelle, I bet you can! ; ) I love that about you.... that you'll still have the smile, even if it's a little frantic.

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  26. What a great blog! Loved reading that. Im not sure what fairy tale I am at the moment, but I always wanted to go up "The Magic Faraway Tree"

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Tint~