When I began to navigate Alice’s Adventure into #Muchness, the message that kept coming to mind meant something very different. Now, three weeks into the COVID-19 Quarantine where my daily status is to Stay Home and Shelter, Poison is wearing a very different costume. But its threat remains the same.

First … a quick recap.

When last we left Alice, she had ventured into the Rabbit Hole. She fell, if you are at all familiar with the tale, for quite some time. And as she fell, she noticed cupboards and shelves full of such significant things as Orange Marmalade, globes, maps and many, many books. Down, down, down she fell, not knowing when this strange experience would end. Not knowing what she would find when it did.

Sound familiar?

As she fell, she began to recite nonsense and to contemplate strange things. In a time for our world where I’m separated from friends, loved ones and regular activities — where simple outings are no longer simple and every encounter requires 6 feet of separation, I find myself doing much the same.

Lucky for Alice, Lewis Carroll didn’t write her fall to last weeks or months. Eventually after a two-page tumble, she hit the ground, found herself in a round hall, and determined that she was going to get out.

With Alice — if you take the time to read her story, there are not a lot of “shoulds.” (Another reason I admire her.) She didn’t spend a lot of time questioning whether she SHOULD open a door and venture into the unknown. #Muchness comes from courage and trusting instincts. From plotting a course and venturing forward, bravely and with confidence.

How she longed to get out of that dark hall and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains …

And then came the little bottle.

“A little bottle that hadn’t been there before with a paper label round its neck with the words “DRINK ME” beautifully printed on it with large letters.”

Alice was a wise girl — yes, restless and curious as I mentioned previously. But while #Muchness comes with Restlessness, Imagination and Curiosity, it also comes with Wisdom. She wasn’t going to follow the direction on that little bottle too quickly. She checked to make sure it wasn’t marked “Poison.” She’d heard what happened to others who were hurt when they didn’t check the rules first. And a bottle marked poison is — according to Alice — “certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.”

But we do it. We drink the bottle that says Poison, don’t we? Unlike Alice, there are many times in our lives when we venture forward equipped with knowledge and aware that what we are doing is eventually going to come back and bite us in the … well, disagree with us, sooner or later.

Oh, we don’t always quite literally stumble upon a bottle with a DRINK ME label and then ponder whether or not it may harm us. But, we make choices to do things that we know aren’t truly good for us. We do things that may not always be in our best interest. Perhaps we have a habit or two that would be better to let go of. Perhaps we have people in our lives that we spend time with, knowing we will suffer for it afterwards — could be due to unkindness, harsh or cavalier treatment, bad choices we make in their company or their lack of appreciation for who we are or what we offer.

No. Poison doesn’t always come in a bottle that is easily distinguishable. It comes in the form of people who hurt us — either carelessly, deliberately or unknowingly. People who are toxic to us. People who are not for us — or perhaps, just perhaps we are not for them.

There are situations we choose — even accidentally — to open ourselves up to that endanger us or distress us. Perhaps the poison comes in the form of unkind words, an unsupportive employer or colleague or an abusive relationship.  Poisonous words hurt us physically, emotionally, spiritually or affect us on some deeper level. They tear us down when we take them in.

We eat this, drink that, inhale substances, smoke cigarettes, drive a car after one too many. We accept verbal, mental or physical abuse when we know we should walk away. We make excuses for bad behavior. We put up with unkindness or hang out with people who are doing or engaging in things we know are ‘questionable.’ We drive too fast. We eat too much. We indulge whims. We spend too much. We neglect self-care in favor of something that feels good in the moment.

Too much chocolate can be Poison. Too little exercise can be Poison. People can be Poison or can invite us into Poisonous Places. Too much spending can be Poison.

What is your Poison? What comes with a Drink Me label for you that might disagree with you, sooner or later?

If we venture out into today’s world in groups or with others, we are drinking Poison. If we ignore CDC warnings, we dabble with Poison. If we don’t wash our hands thoroughly or if we don’t keep the required distance, we could drink Poison. Carelessness comes with a price.

We may deny its potential fatal consequence. But inside, we — like Alice — know that:

“If you drink much from a bottle marked “poison” it is certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.”

So why do we do it? Drink the Poison? Is the temporary “whatever” it offers worth playing with the danger? Apparently it is, since we keep drinking it.

Until we decide not to. Until we put down the bottle and walk away.

In my exploration into #Muchness, I’ve struggled with my own bottles of Poison. Sometimes its taste — a mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee and hot buttered toast taste — masks what is underneath. Sometimes it goes down easily. And other times, I’ve wrestled with side-effects. Too much of a good thing isn’t good. Too much of something that isn’t good at all for you … well, that’s just bad.

Unfortunately, Poison doesn’t always come in a little bottle with a warning label. But we should pause — like Alice — when we find a bottle on a little glass table featuring a tag and the enticing words DRINK ME.  We should consider the cost before indulging. And in my quest to find #Muchness in today’s Wonderland, I invite each of you to decide for yourself … To Drink or Not To Drink.

… That is the question.

                                                                                           Jenni