"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
This Alice in Wonderland quote is one that's stuck with me for awhile. Six impossible things before breakfast. It makes life sound like such an adventure - and it is. When I saw Through the Looking Glass a few days ago, it got me thinking about wonder and imagination - if we all can channel this special place called "Wonderland," or if it's a mere figment of Lewis Carroll's imagination just meant for our diversionary pleasure. I like to think it's the former. I'll get to this in a minute so hang with me. But first, let's take a quick trip.
"That's where we want to go, way down in Kokomo..."
Aruba, Jamaica...we all know the Beach Boys song, and I'm sure you mentally sang "Ooh I wanna take ya" - at least, I did...out loud. Anyhow, I grew up listening to this song before I even knew what a "tropical drink" or "afternoon delight" were, and it just popped out of my music library while on shuffle the other day. I started thinking about Kokomo and what it is, where it is, what it would look like - it's not a real island, but I think it's more a state of mind. Like Wonderland.
What, in this crazy world where we often feel like the White Rabbit (I'm late, I'm late!) and the thought of an island vacation sends a shiver of panic through our bank accounts, have Wonderland and Kokomo got to do with anything? These places, while they evoke vivid mental images, are states of mind that we are meant to channel, and on a regular basis.
Wonderland: the place where the willing suspension of disbelief is the M.O., where we don't let the complexities or the doubters get in the way. There is no such "impossibility" for the wild-running human imagination.
Kokomo: a soothing escape to get away from the stresses and turmoil of the "real world" - wherever that escape may be.
Wonderland and Kokomo may not be "real" destinations that we can find on Google Maps or check in at on social media, but they are destinations that exist in our minds, which I think is even cooler. These stories that are told to us through Alice in Wonderland and the Beach Boys' hit song are meant to show us not only the possibility, but the necessity to channel these states of mind and not let them go unvisited. By doing so, we would be missing out on part of our human nature - at least I think so. How lucky are we to be part of a species that can travel to another place and time using nothing but our imaginations? It makes the hair on my arms stand up and is probably one of the reasons why I rarely get bored.
For now, I'm off - hope to see you on the other side of the rabbit hole.