Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Part 5
A time of transformation
This week Alice isn’t really sure who she wants to be she just knows that she’s had enough of the constant ups and down of change. But when provided with the opportunity for constancy she realises that she isn’t actually entirely happy with where she’s ended up, that she does have a more intentional desire for something else even though it will require yet further change and worse still, no guarantee of which direction it will take her in. Still, with the well concealed guidance of a nonchalant caterpillar, she courageously opts for transformation.
Transitional periods of time in our own lives can often feel like we’re being pulled in two different directions, the familiar safety of the old clinging on for dear life at the prospect of the unknown, of something brilliant but possibly terrifyingly new. In my own experience, it is often the fear of the change itself rather than what awaits us on the other side of it that causes the most discomfort. In fact, the more ease, the more nonchalance we can approach it with, the less painful the process.
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What I love about the caterpillar here is that even when Alice challenges it, threatens it with its own inevitable winged-evolution it dismisses her. It tells her it doesn’t understand her consternation, she just has to choose. If anything, it does what I think all good friends should do - ask questions rather than give advice, in doing so the caterpillar allows Alice to find the soft edges of her own boundaries. It helps her to clarify her options so that she may choose for herself with conscious intention, if not the certainty that we all crave.