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IT'S ALL JUST NONSENSE...thank Alice. What Lewis Carroll taught us about life.




It's the wonderful Lewis Carroll's birthday today. If he was still on this earthly plane, he would be 193.


His incredible and inspirational work and nonsense (in the best, most positive sense) live on as strongly as ever though.


In fact, I would go as far as to say that in these times more than ever, we need a good ol' dollop of uplifting, escapist nonsense, don't you agree?


As a little girl, separated from my Dad with whom I shared a deep love of literature, reading and yes, nonsense, Lewis Carroll's work would serve as a kind of secret language we could share in our letters to each other. My mother wasn't a fan and didn't spot the hidden messages. We had so much fun with it. I would read and read and re read, thumbing the pages until they wore thin, trying to find passages, prose and rhyme that represented how I felt and what I wanted to say.


That started a lifelong fascination with and admiration for the power of words and language. I was amazed that Lewis Carroll wrote lines for Alice that spoke so accurately about the thoughts I had and what I felt. I was so encouraged by the healing power of the story and the characters who represented so many aspects of each of us. And of course, I loved escaping into Alice's underground world where everything made sense even though on the surface it made no sense at all. It was fun and at that time, fun was something that was very much missing from my life.


I was trapped alone with my paranoid schizophrenic Jehovah's Witness mother and very much the target and victim of what I would come to call her 'episodes'. I needed places to escape to and as I had no physical places of safety to run to: no family or other sanctuaries, I would dive into the pages of books and hide away in my local library devouring stories.


Lewis Carrol introduced me to the creativity of writing, the healing nature of words on paper, the weaving of a story that could change with every chapter. Lewis inspired me to write of course, but more than that, he showed me how to heal and how to escape by editing my own story, writing characters into and out of my story and rewriting whole chunks of it. Let's have some fun because Lewis would most certainly want us to.

Do This...


It's Your Tea Party:

Prompt: The Mad Hatter's tea party is chaotic, with nonsensical rules and constant interruptions. Imagine a moment in your life that felt just as overwhelming or absurd, when things weren’t going the way you wanted.

Writing Exercise:

  • Rewrite that moment as a scene at the tea party.

  • Who would be at the table with you? What would they say or do?

  • Now, imagine you have the power to change the rules of the tea party. Rewrite the scene so it feels empowering or joyful. What happens?

Purpose: This exercise helps you take control of a situation that felt disempowering or chaotic by reframing it in a playful, imaginative way. It encourages you to find new perspectives and rewrite your story on your terms.


Here are a couple of my favourite quotes from Alice in Wonderland that still serve me well to this day. I hope they inspire you as they do me.

"Who in the world am I? Ah, that is the great puzzle."

Alice says this to herself at the beginning of the story as she changes size for the first time after drinking the 'Drink Me' potion. So many of our life experiences change us and can leave us unsure about who we truly are.


"There's no use going back to yesterday. I was a different person then."

Through Alice, Lewis reminds us that going back or trying to change the past is no use whatsoever. The only way is forward. To put it my way, "You may not be able to change the story you were given, but you can edit, add to and rewrite your story any time and you can decide how your story ends."


If you want to be a part of a community of story lovers (stories come in many forms, not just written) and people who are ready to understand their stories and how they impact their lives as well as learning how to edit and even rewrite them, join my mailing list at https://michelehenshaw.con You'll instantly get a free 'Glory in Your Story' worksheet.

Big love, Michele x


Get the book:  Your Path to Freedom

Private Facebook Group: Rewrite Your Story

Website:  MicheleHenshaw.com



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