A Very Merry Unbirthday

I started With Muchness about a year ago, and given my type-A tendencies, it’s odd that it became something different than I intended. It began as a place to work on my craft as a critic. A place where I could discover how to write with more gusto. I didn’t know that this blog would become an instrumental part of my first year in New York. During this time, I’ve felt like just another Alice lost in Wonderland, on an endless journey; With Muchness ended up documenting my adventures down the rabbit hole.

New York has its share of wonderfully strange things. I felt almost childlike when I first ventured into Manhattan, filled with a sense of wonder and curiosity. I had never seen so many buses and taxis. I’ve never not had access to a car and taking the train everywhere was foreign territory. I had never been surrounded by so many unfamiliar people, coming and going briskly from one place to another. Personality, no New Yorker lacked that. Confident, guarded and often gruff, they’re most amicable when their schedules are packed and their needs are met.

I was intrigued by the city’s mystery and magic. In my Wonderland, everything felt new, the art scene was intoxicating and I was given an opportunity to really dig deep, face some monsters and grow up.

Of course, there was a cast of players that had a hand in teaching me something from nothing. An old soul and wise Caterpillar spoke in rhymes, but with reason, challenging me to think about the effect my decisions have. A White Queen, guided me, presenting me with options, while leaving me to choose in the end. I’ve met the Mad Hatter, gaining a friend who loves and believes in me more fully than I do myself. There’s been encounters with the Red Queen. Her words filled with contempt and her actions full of injustice, teaching me patience and civility. And the White Rabbit, leading me into a continuous series of journeys, full of the unexpected. I’m still an adventurer, looking for my muchness, but not just in terms of writing—in the everyday too. Maybe one day I’ll be ready to actually pulverize that Jabberwocky.

Instead of traveling back into reality, I think I’ll stay trapped behind the looking glass in pursuit of nothingness… funny how nothings always turn into somethings.

 

 

 

 

 

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