"Alice in Wonderland Finds Self Love"

The Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland is quite spectacular. The special effects, the costumes, the dialog. Of course, we choose to look at this tale from another angle: finding self love.

 

The thing to remember about Wonderland (apparently Alice misheard the name the first time down the rabbit hole – it’s Underland in this sequel) is this: You may get mixed up in some crazy, unbelievable situations from time to time, but ultimately you have to make the decisions that are right for you.

 

Alice did that. You can too. Yes, even this fairy tale has a love-related moral… even though it may not be obvious at the start.

 

Beyond the delicious nonsense, the underlying themes of this movie are woman power, embracing self love, and making the decisions that are right for number one. 

 

Take a Moment

It takes guts to turn down a marriage proposal, especially in the late 1800s when a woman’s prospects are pretty bleak. When her smarmy, icky suitor unexpectedly gets down on one knee, Alice simply says, “I need a moment,” and scurries after her old pal the White Rabbit to see if she can knock some sense into herself. But that tumble down the rabbit hole causes more trouble than it’s worth at the start for this flaxen-haired beauty.

 

Plenty of people doubt dear Alice in Wonderland. It is foretold that she will slay the Jabberwocky dragon on Frabjous Day (a Wonderland holiday, so to speak) and free everyone in Underland from the Red Queen’s big-headed rules. But Alice in Wonderland wants no part of this nonsense. She protests that they’ve got the wrong Alice.

 

How often in life have challenges been thrown your way that you just didn’t want to accept? Dare we say that the challenges you finally rise to meet – and ultimately conquer – are the ones that make you feel like the queen of the world yourself? The things you run away from (bad relationships, poor decision in love, and so on) only cause you pain because running doesn’t make the bad stuff go away… it just keeps you looking over your shoulder forever after.

 

Decision Time

Watching Alice in Wonderland, it’s easy to get swept away by the silliness, by the plump, adorable Cheshire Cat, the prissy Dormouse, and wide-eyed Mad Hatter. Alice could have gotten carried away too but, most of the time, she is thinking hard, trying to figure out how she got mixed up in this topsy-turvy world and why in heaven’s name she’s there.

 

You might think to yourself occasionally: “Why in the name of all that’s holy am I in this impossible situation? And, most of all, how do I get out of it?” Take a cue from Alice: Sometimes the only way to rid yourself of what’s haunting you is to face it head on. To be braver than you even knew you could be. This is self love of the finest sort – because facing your personal trials means you are loving yourself as you are meant to be loved. It means you are respecting your need to conquer what doesn’t feel quite right, what needs to be changed, what isn’t making you happy.

 

I Am Woman

Alice runs into some unusual characters on her second journey to Wonderland/Underland. They give her some good advice, plenty of bad advice, and also advice that makes zero sense. (Sound familiar? We bet you’ve got some friends who fit into each of those categories.)

 

Ultimately, everyone in Wonderland/Underland is looking for Alice to be their champion. A Joan of Arc dressed in armor and accessorized with a sword and determination. (Whoever said woman is the weaker sex? Hmpfh.) But you know what? Alice had to come to the decision herself to be the champion. She needed to make the choice that would let her live with herself.

 

While you are hardly being challenged to save the civilization of a made-up world on a daily basis, you are in charge of managing your own personal world 24/7. No matter who chimes in, no matter what nutty creatures you encounter, your life is your own – and if you don’t love yourself and act for yourself then you will never be fully happy. You will never be completely full of the self love you deserve.

 

Creature Comforts

After Alice in Wonderland climbs back out of that rabbit hole again, she is prepared to answer her suitor’s invitation of marriage. She does so with conviction, with trust in herself. She knows there is a world out there for her that doesn’t involve the “norm,” that goes beyond what’s “expected” of her. So don’t be afraid to break away from a pattern or say no to what others are assuming is right for you.

 

As Alice’s father once told her, it’s the silly, mixed-up folks who are the best ones. Let a little bit of madness into your life now and then, fall in love with abandon, dance until your feet get numb, and make the decisions that are best for you. No one else can give you self love. Only you can stock that vessel within – never forget that you are powerful beyond measure.

 

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