Lessons from Alice: Adding Wonder to Your Land
Happy Friday! Want to add a little “wonder” to your weekend?
Yesterday I watched Disney’s animated classic Alice in Wonderland. The movie was based on Lewis Carrol’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, written in 1865. As you know, the story follows the adventures of a young girl named Alice who chases a white rabbit down a hole and into an imaginary, magical world. The adventure is really a dream, but it changes Alice nevertheless.
It taught me a few things too. Here are four inspiring lessons from watching Disney’s Alice in Wonderland:
From The Illustrated Disney Song Book. Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation/Random House.
(1) You don’t have to be first to be successful.
Although the animated Alice in Wonderland became a Disney classic, it wasn’t the first adaptation of Lewis Carrol’s book. It wasn’t the second, the third or even the tenth. There were numerous interpretations of the whimsical story before Disney took a shot at it. Some might have wondered why Disney would even try. By 1951, when the animated version was released, the original story was already 86 years old.
The message? We don’t have to be first at something to be successful. I found this lesson particularly inspiring. Do you have any idea how many Disney-related blogs are out there? Have you ever talked yourself out of pursuing something because somebody else beat you to it?
We each have unique perspectives and abilities that can lead to memorable contributions, even if we’re not the first to try them. Maybe even if we, like the white rabbit, are very late to the party.
From The Illusion of Life Disney Animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson.
(2) Act like nothing is impossible.
Early in the film, Alice jumps through the famous rabbit hole and encounters a small door with a talking doorknob. She’s much too large to fit through the door and laments her predicament to the doorknob. He tells her the door is “impassable” not “impossible.”
Interesting distinction, don’t you think? Maybe the path we’re taking isn’t exactly the right one. Perhaps there’s a different angle. Impassable, as it stands today with our current approach, but not impossible. Why not try another way?
From The Illusion of Life Disney Animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson.
(3) Celebrate more.
Disney’s Alice in Wonderland technically turns 66 next Friday on July 28. So why did I choose to write and post about it today? Well, it’s the film’s “unbirthday” of course.
As you may recall, the attendees at the Mad Hatter’s tea party in the film are joyfully splashing tea while singing “A Very Merry Happy Unbirthday to Us!” Why celebrate one day a year, they argue, when you can celebrate 364 instead? Why indeed.
By searching for something to celebrate, we shift our attention from other things, like whatever may be bothering us at the moment. So go ahead and celebrate finishing that workout, tackling that home improvement project or trying something new. A quick, joyous break may be all you need to gain a fresh perspective. Cheers!
(4) Live in wonder.
How could you watch Alice in Wonderland and not get caught up in the, well, wonder? There really is magic all around us, we just get too busy staring at our cell phones to notice sometimes.
I’m not suggesting you chase a rabbit or drink something from a stranger like Alice did. But maybe, we could learn from her to fully appreciate what is around us. Play in the park. Watch the sunset. Take a cue from a toddler and spontaneously clap at something incredible, like a butterfly.
Sounds lofty and a little goofy, I know. But it’s not a bad goal. Right? Sometimes the longer we live the more we need to be reminded to keep living.
So that’s it. Four lessons from a quick viewing of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Who knew we could learn so much from a crazy dream written so long ago?
Have a wonder-filled weekend and add a little magic to your world.
