Have you ever woken up feeling like a stranger in your own skin? I have. It’s what I call an “Alice Day” – a journey into the wonderland of self-transformation that leaves us dizzy, disoriented, and questioning everything we thought we knew.

Just like Alice in Lewis Carroll’s beloved tale, we find ourselves growing and shrinking in unexpected ways. Our sense of identity becomes as fluid as the Cheshire Cat’s grin, fragmenting and reassembling with each new experience. I remember the day I realized half my opinions weren’t even my own – they were echoes of voices I’d internalized without question. “Who in the world am I?” I asked myself, echoing Alice’s bewilderment.

In our personal Wonderlands, we encounter our own versions of the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and the cryptic Caterpillar. They come in the form of challenging relationships, societal expectations, and inner demons that make us question our reality. “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast,” the White Queen boasted. How many impossible beliefs have we swallowed without thinking?

But like Alice, we have tools to maintain our sanity amidst the chaos. Critical thinking becomes our sword, cutting through the nonsense. Adaptability is our shield, protecting us from the onslaught of change. Logic and reason are the breadcrumbs we follow home when we’re lost in the woods of confusion.

I’ve had my share of Alice Days – days when nothing made sense, when I felt like a collection of mismatched puzzle pieces. Perhaps you’ve experienced them too: the disorienting aftermath of a major life change, the vertigo of challenging a long-held belief, or the surreal haze of grief or trauma.

Yet, Alice’s journey teaches us that these days of confusion are not just normal – they’re necessary. They’re the cocoon stages of our personal metamorphosis. “It’s no use going back to yesterday,” Alice realized, “because I was a different person then.” Each Alice Day is an opportunity to shed an old skin, to question, to grow.