Down the Rabbit Hole

LA is a land of wonder and dreams. Where stars are born, made, broken, and burn out on a daily basis. People, for the most part, leave each other alone, more worried about living their own lives. This strange land allows everyone to be and act how he or she pleases. There is not one true sense of style because anything goes. There is no one place to be because everything is fun and different. Harmony and chaos walk hand in hand. For me, there is always something about stepping off that three and a half hour flight from MEM to LAX that brings a smile to my face and goosebumps to my skin.

During my most recent trip to Santa Monica to visit my soon-to-be STAR sister... dun da da duuuun... Erin Williams, I realized something: LA is exactly like Wonderland (with about a trillion times the number of Alice's chasing about a billion different white rabbits).

*Okay, yes, guilty as charged. The premier of the 3D version of Alice in Wonderland was the Friday while I was visiting.*

Driving down the 405 on a perfectly delicious seventy degree afternoon can make you feel like you have not a care in the entire world. The weather is like something out of a Nicholas Sparks beach read... but every day! With a great song in the background and the snow-capped mountains in the distance, I feel like, even if just for the car ride, nothing can touch me. Freedom. What a great feeling. Have you ever felt like that? Like nothing can touch you? From the moment I step foot off the plane I can not help but believe that anything is possible. Corny, I know. Really what I think is it is not so much what I feel, but that I feel... so strongly, so passionately. Like I said, it just feels great.

"I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see," Alice says.

So, down, down, down, the rabbit hole I go...



The lure of LA doesn't begin and end with the vast range of people I encounter while there, although, let's face it, it probably could. To me, the best part about visiting the "city" is the ever changing landscape. Mountains roll into freeway, neighborhoods flow into beaches which disappear into water, and parks and playgrounds are speckled with star-studded billboards. Bikes chase down cabs while pedestrians on foot own the streets.

You could possibly blame the ever constant bright and burning sun for the use of sunglasses or a hat or maybe it is just one of many... many fashion statements of the moment. Everyone has somewhere to be and yet no one seems to EVER do anything at all. I swear, no one works in LA! It is crazy. No business suits. It is all comfy casual or daytime dressy. I am always amazed at the multitude of people roaming the streets, shops, restuarants, and beaches at all hours of the day! I am looking around like, "I took vacation days for this! What do you do???" Yes, it stems from pure jealousy, but that is beside the point...

While chasing my own white rabbit all over the city, vintage shopping in Silver Lake, running to the beach for breakfast in Santa Monica, and eating a dinner filled with A though Z list celebrity sitings in West Hollywood,I realize you can literally do anything here. You just have to think of it and be brave enough to act.

Endless possibility in the City of Angels.

Be. Do. Go. Give. Share. Change. Live. Grow.

While out and about, I realize that I am smack dab in the middle of a city scattered with characters straight from Alice in Wonderland. I find Mad Hatter's who entertain and make us question everything we know followed by White Rabbit's who lure us into unknown situations we would never have considered before. There are the King's, Queen's and their many minions who we secretly want to be like, and, of course, I can't forget the many versions of the Chessire Cat all looking to take advantage of the unknowing, obviously nieve newcomers.

Inspite of and to some extent because of these people, I feel alive and free. Free from responsibilities. Free from the burdons. Free from the expectations of the hand of cards life has dealt me. ("Off with her head!") I can do anything and be anyone I want. It may not be reality, but it is real while I am there.

From the Duchess to Alice, "If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does."

Maybe I am just fooling myself, but in a backwards (or forwards, which ever way you look at it) land far far away from my hometown, it is just that simple. I know no one except for a handful of amazing people, a few of which I have met along the way, but the one thing they all have in common is they never expect anything. They are open and up for anything. The only requirement is to have a good time.

Thus is La La Land.














Unfortunately, as Alice comes to find out, when your life is somewhere else you can't live in Wonderland forever. And, if I really think about it, I wouldn't want to. I live where I live for a reason (multiple ones at that), but the need for places like LA is obvious... breaking barriers, stretching limits, stepping outside your comfort zone... finding and bettering yourself. Places like LA allow me to do all of these things and return home refreshed and changed even if just a little or for a little while.

"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!" (Alice)

Now, I think the trick for me is to figure out how to feel like this whoever I am with and wherever I go. Situations, people, surroundings, these are all things which have the ability to make me feel and act a certain way, but the deal breaker or maker needs to be... me. I find that too often my emotions live and breathe on the things and people other than my own confidence and strength in the Lord. Feeling alive and soaking in the moments with the people, places, and things around me is a marvelous thing, but having them determine my character, my reactions, my perspective, that is where I have to draw the line. What I have to keep reminding myself is all I need to do is turn to the One greater than me, greater than everything around me, for my true happiness. My reality should be based on His promises. Comfort and security in an uncertain world.

Sounds simple.
I wish.
I am only human, so it definitely does not come easy. Maybe it's not supposed to, but I have to keep trying.

A reminder to myself: The beauty is in the attempt... but the ending is written in stone.

It may not be all cakes and tea all the time, but at least it is real. Wonderland only exists in my head.

Back to life. Back to reality...

"Live freely, animated and motivated by God's spirit... two ways of life are antithetical, so that you can not live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit..." Galatians, The Message

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, do not let yourselves be burdened again... Deep down the Master has given me confidence that you will not defect... just make sure you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love, that's how freedom grows."  Galatians 5:1,10,14-15