So…what is the Cheshire Cat’s Lair?
I admit I’m not quite sure yet.
I expect that it will be about many things,
but whatever form(s) it may take,
the intention is to explore
openly, authentically, experientially,
what it truly means to be free
in mind and heart
to question
without clinging to answers
the most deeply-ingrained assumptions
the most unconscious conditioning
about who we truly are
and what we are truly capable of
as human beings
in what we call “the real world”
in other words, what we perceive as real.
You may remember the Cheshire Cat
from the classic tale
Alice in Wonderland.
Wonderland is basically a dreamlike “real world”
where the characters do absurd things
according to an internal logic
that makes sense
to those who are immersed in it.
The only exceptions are
Alice, an outsider who is new to Wonderland,
and the Cheshire Cat,
an outsider who seems to know Wonderland
better than anyone else.
Unlike the other characters,
the Cheshire Cat
actually seems to understand Alice.
He bluntly states what is obvious
to no one else but them,
that everyone in Wonderland is insane,
including himself.
He knows this,
and grins.
He alone refuses to bow
to the tyrannical Queen of Hearts,
and when threatened with execution,
he makes his head appear
without his body,
causing confusion
as to how a body-less being can be beheaded.
He appears to be in the world, but not of it.
This Lair is inspired by
(among many other things)
the free and playful spirit
of the Cheshire Cat.
It is created as an outlet
for the partially-formed ideas
of an idealistic introvert
with tendencies toward social withdrawal,
self-conscious perfectionism,
and chronic nonlinear daydreaming.
It is an attempt
to take baby steps out of the “comfort zone”
of solitude and silence,
and take up the daunting task
of crystallizing an overwhelming cloud
of images, feelings, intuitions…
into words.
After all, fantasizing and talking to oneself
can only provide so much “comfort.”
There is a time to retreat
and a time to share,
connect,
engage.
I’ve spent enough time waiting
for a better day,
a better sentence,
a better me…
Life happens now.
And I want to live.
