August 2010
Recently, I had the pleasure of watching the Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp. I was highly entertained by the humor and whimsy captured in the film and also by the interesting use of metaphors for the circumstances that occur in the wonderlands that we all call our lives.
Those metaphors forced me to examine those circumstances that brought forth challenges in my own life and the types of emotions that were driving them. In the film, the main character, Alice, fell into a hole and entered a fantasy land full of curious personalities and circumstances. The land was ruled by the evil Red Queen who had taken power over the land after winning a battle fought against her sister, the White Queen, after seizing the White Queen’s magical sword. Alice was lured to the land to assist the White Queen in regaining rule over the land, but the only way of doing so was to fight and conquer the Red Queen’s most powerful and fearsome warrior, the Jabberwocky.
Alice, intimidated by the size and notoriously known power of the beast, doubted her ability to face and ultimately conquer it. She was unable to see that her ability to do so lied purely in her desire, her thoughts and her beliefs in her own innate strength. Alice was willing and able to overcome a number of small victories throughout the film, one resulting in securing the White Queen’s magical sword and returning it to its rightful owner; however, when it came to her willingness face the Jabberwocky, she was fearful and did not believe she would be able to be successful in slaying it.
Ultimately, Alice gathered the gumption to face the Jabberwocky, and to her surprise, was successful in slaying him. The White Queen regained power over the land and everyone lived happily ever after.
Now, I realize that things in real life generally aren’t quite as whimsical, yet nonetheless, I was inspired by Alice’s courage and bravery, and was prompted to begin identifying the Jabberwockies that existed in my own life, and asserted that certainly others must be faced by their own gigantic, winged, fire-breathing beasts that keep them contained in cyclical patterns of negative thoughts, behaviors and outcomes by which they surely feel imprisoned.
I reached for my sword (in my case, a Swarovski crystal encrusted ink pen) and prepared for battle (on a leather-bound paper battlefield). I faced each Jabberwocky head on by carefully devising a plan to slay them through the power of my thoughts and actions. Each Jabberwocky was operationalized and I identified character traits within myself that would be necessary to develop to outsmart, pin, and ultimately slay the fearful creature. I developed affirmations to keep myself encouraged as the animal charged nearer and nearer to me with obvious intent to do me nothing but harm, and I carefully selected verbs that I would perform regularly to tackle the scale-covered fiend.
Putting my plan into action on a near daily basis has been a challenge to say the least. I haven’t yet slayed all of my Jabberwockies, and I’m sure that as I evolve in this life, I will encounter others, but I have found a great deal of pride, joy and fulfillment in witnessing the emotional and spiritual development that is taking place in my life by facing my monsters.
Through this process, I have concluded that all of our thoughts, choices and actions stem from two general emotions—-fear or love. Those that stem from fear generally hold us captive in patterns and situations that we generally deem negative while those that stem from love typically allow us to feel emotions that we consider positive. Either emotion can be healthy to a certain extent; however, too much of either can be to great detriment.
It is imperative as the masters of our own destiny to determine the source behind our emotions and to determine whether those patterns are propelling us in the direction we wish for our lives to go or if their impairing us and holding us hostage in unsatisfactory circumstances.
Having said all of that, I challenge each reader of these words to unearth, face and slay their Jabberwocky.
What in this life is standing between you and you living your Truth? What are you afraid of? Whether it’s not having the approval of others, having to be independent for the first time, losing weight, or taking a major risk of any kind—-whatever it may be, you must first identify what it is that is keeping you from catapulting yourself closer to your goals and becoming the person you wish to be. Figure it out and reach for your sword. With sword in hand and motivation in heart, we can begin together to determine the best way to slay your Jabberwocky.
Janell A. Morgan, MSW, LICSW, LCSW-C is a Psychotherapist/Life Coach/Mom/Aspiring Zen Goddess/Fitness Fanatic/Squeaky Clean Eater/Sister/Daughter/Lover/Friend who is passionate about helping others to reach their most amazing potential. Janell operates a private practice in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Janell is soliciting readers who wish for her to respond to their most burning questions about life, love, spirituality and relationships.
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