Intersections

When the day becomes the night and the sky becomes the sea, when the clock strikes heavy and there’s no time for tea; and in our darkest hour, before my final rhyme, she will come back home to Wonderland and turn back the hands of time. ~ The Cheshire Cat

(BANG!) It was like a rollercoaster ride through a color run that came to an abrupt stop. No lights. No warning signs. Just a loud confusing sound of static and other engines passing by. Three minutes prior to this scene, I had been walking outside before setting sail down the Green River. I looked up high and noticed the Cheshire Cat with a silly smile on his half-hidden face in the night sky. Was that a glimmer in his eye or a wink? What was he trying to tell me? Go this way or go that way? Oh what to do, what to do…

(…continued from above…)

…I guess I chose the wrong way. Twenty seven midnights later, and still the miserable madness of pain inside this brain persists. The swirling thoughts happening lately…

~ What are words?

~ I’d much rather be sleeping.

~ It’s a good thing I love classical music.

~ Sometimes the universe makes us slow down when we don’t want to.   

~ Sometimes other people don’t slow down, and then they fatefully crash into us.

~ Sometimes I feel like I’m two minutes ahead in life. Other times I feel like I’m ten years late.

And then other times, things line up so perfectly that I feel like I’ve reached some sort of grand alignment. Maybe it’s hearing a song on the radio that coincides with something that’s just been said. Or maybe it’s a bigger deal, like a new connection or place feeling like home. Maybe these happenings are mere coincidences. Maybe they mean something. How can we know? Regardless, these moments keep us on our toes. They bring sparks of joy and remind us to keep going even when life isn’t easy.

We know we are where we are supposed to be because this is where we are. That sounds like something the Cheshire Cat would say. Do I believe that thought? Sometimes. Other days it just sounds like nonsense. It’s been more than an hour of screen staring and deep thinking, and my first attempt at stitching my thoughts together in written form in quite some time. That’s quite enough for now I must say, as my head now seems to be floating away…

Ok, back to the intersections. Should we go left or right? Up or down? Take the back road or the main road? The familiar path or the unknown? Wait or go now? Focus on forward motion or keep looking in the rearview? Where are the black and white answers? These questions can’t really be answered and can plague an anxious mind. How can we not over-think the intersections, literally and metaphorically?

All I know to do is to try to be patient with life and take time to rest when needed…easier said than done. To practice gratitude and be intentional with our time. To keep looking for the creative in the seemingly mundane aspects of life. It’s been a long time, but I turned the key and opened the door to creative energy today. And down a rabbit hole, I will now fall…

I think about art like it’s a contagious force of generosity. Creativity shares ideas without holding back. It gives, and when it receives something back it then gives even more. It’s like one of those mirrors with another mirror inside of it, and the reflecting image never ends. Creativity is all around us waiting for someone to notice. Like fireworks waiting for a match. May we stay ever curious for it while finding courage at the many intersections in life.

Long story short, keep your eyes open for creativity…and for drivers who seem to have their eyes closed.