Down the Rabbit Hole: Turnabout Day

Alice awoke extra early that morning.  She felt excited and happy but couldn't remember why this was so.  She took her index fingers and gently massaged her ear lobes, a trick that helped her wake up more easily she had learned from her dear sister Penelope.

After a few seconds, she remembered the source of her pleasure.  It was Turnabout Day (or, as it is commonly called on the earth's surface, Monday)!

 
The "Mondays" Alice remembered from BEFORE the rabbit hole had held all kinds of unsettling vibes for people.  Everyone was always unhappy that the weekend had ended and it was time to go back to work or school.  There was always lots of growling around the subject of Mondays whether you could hear it with your ears or not.  Alice instinctively KNEW that some sounds were LODGED straight in the heart and it was difficult for them to escape even if they wanted to.

Now, Turnabout Day...THAT was another story.  Everybody down the rabbit hole waited for THAT day because it meant there would be much gaiety and laughter and, surely, there would be surprises.



Alice hopped out of bed with anticipation and tried to remember what she had planned for her debut in the village square.  "Oh, yes," she exclaimed.  "That's right.  I will need to go down to the pantry before I leave."


Before long Alice was dressed and ready to depart, now carrying a satchel filled with special ingredients.  As she stepped out onto the road she was joined by several vibrant birds, their feathers fluffing and refluffing themselves as they twittered away in excitement.  Though Alice could not decipher the special code of the birds' twittering, she was certainly able to translate their emotional state.  Obviously. Alice was not the only one expecting to have an exciting day.


Alice and the birds soon reached the gathering assemblage in the village square where all of the villagers were busily inspecting everyone else's personage for evidence of creativity.  Frederick the Owl was wearing his spectacles perched upside down on his beak which made his line of vision quite cumbersome, inducing a massive amount of swaying and stumbling about.

 
Priscilla the Pig wore her frothy white apron backwards, Alice noticed, smiling at the delicate, giant bow tied so prettily over Priscilla's tummy.

 
George the Otter had cut holes in his rain cape...big gaping, raggedy holes, a clear indication that George had slept in (yet again) and had clumsily fashioned the costume just minutes before.

 

As more and more of the villagers arrived, Alice decided she had better ready herself and dug into her satchel, producing a small kitchen knife and a cob of corn which she then smeared with peanut butter from a tiny jar.  "That should do it," she exclaimed to herself.  "I will be OK as long as I stay far away from Priscilla."


As silly as this entire scene might appear to a visitor wandering by, Turnabout Day was, in actuality, a day of grave significance down the rabbit hole (even if it WAS accompanied by great fun).  It represented an effort by ALL of the villagers to consciously change their default buttons.  The proclamation declaring Turnabout Day had occurred only after much discussion in the village hall, hours of problem solving rhetoric from the Owl Triumvirate who always took matters of personal growth VERY seriously and the resulting consensus of the villagers that SOMETHING had to be done if things were to ever have a chance of changing.

 
It seemed that every creature to be found in the rabbit hole harbored a mysterious default button that, when activated, inspired behavior that was "less than courteous and civil".  For example, Frederick the Owl became enraged whenever he was interrupted and started slinging accusations at everyone in his line of vision about their poor communication skills and disregard for others.  Priscilla the Pig was extremely sensitive and felt dishonored when others did not notice her reactions and sensitivities and try to console her.  George the Otter had an insecurity complex...he always arrived late to events and tried to sneak in.  If someone noticed George's lateness and got in his otter face about it, well, to put it simply,
it was "ON" and George had an anger issue and was NOT insecure about batting his tail around.

 
The fact is, EVERYBODY in the rabbit hole displayed some kind of unconscious behavior that did not serve them well and the entire community had decided to do something about their bad behavior and replace it with gentleness and consideration for others.  And so Turnabout Day was born, one day each week when every resident of the rabbit hole decided to do something  "different" to consciously remind himself about the behavior change he aspired to.

 
And it was really working...most of the time.  The village citizens were becoming more aware of when their default buttons were being activated,  especially on the several occasions (which shall go down in history) when several default buttons had gone off at the same time!  Oh, my, thought Alice, remembering some episodes.  I don't even want to go THERE.


 
It had all been too much to deal with and so the decision was made that ALL citizens would take responsibility for reminding  themselves to be present to what was transpiring IN THAT MOMENT..to be consciously aware of what was happening NOW and simply deal with that issue and not act out from the past hurts or unhealed pain that could spring up and surprise them. This was not an easy assignment for ANYONE but Alice was very proud of the efforts the villagers were making to bring a measure of peace to the bustling community.


Alice looked cautiously around to make sure that Priscilla was not nearby and gingerly licked the peanut butter off of the front of the cob of corn.

 

She became very pensive.  Peanut butter always induced this state in her.  If everyone can become a better version of himself by becoming aware of his default button, Alice pondered, and...if everyone can find a more gentle way of consciously expressing himself, then the rabbit hole was destined to become more harmonious, she decided.  And, working together,  maybe they could solve whatever problems presented themselves.

...and maybe even then they could solve the problems that existed ABOVE the rabbit hole!!!

 
With that, Alice decided to join the flock of birds that were twittering their way home and, though she did not know the word/notes to the songs they were singing as they winged their way down the road, she felt a certain happiness enter her heart.
                         

                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                     Marie Helena

                                                                                         



top image from DragoArt.com.   
how to draw Alice in wonderland  characters


bottom image from www.sensoryinterventions.com