“I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”
Mystery is intriguing, exciting, and rich in possibility but it can also be scary.
When I am approached I always have the above in my thoughts. Perhaps those that come to me have an 'idea' of me in their mind. A hope or a picture of what a situation between them and I could look like. Perhaps they are more of a blank slate, merely hoping to learn something to confirm or invalidate their approach.
The initial discussion is so delicate - if you try to dispel too much of the mystery and illusion you take some of the wind from the sails - throw perhaps too much cold water on the fire of interest. If you don't move past the unknown then the person isn't really talking to you, they are talking with their 'idea' of you. Whatever one says or does is coloured through the prism of that beautiful thought. After a while, you come to understand you have been having two separate conversations: what you thought you clearly expressed, and what was heard and understood. It can be perplexing and frustrating to navigate, to manage.
But manage I somehow must.
For I am the White Rabbit. Despite never having enough time, despite all the hours in the day, I must lead 'Alice' into Wonderland and hopefully through it, to more adventures than even I can see. Like most here, I want every story to have as much entertainment as possible - to ultimately lead to the 'happy' end that everyone would want for themselves and others. I want to do right by myself and the person that I am talking to.
Please forgive this White Rabbit, however, if he doesn't always have the time to lead a sub in a blissful fugue to the paths of the divine. Responsibility is one of the badges of of my tribe, that is true, but we all share in it to some lesser or greater degree. I'll take more, far more when I get someone prepped and through the rabbit hole. Until then, I ask people that approach me to be present and attentive. it is easier to learn a useful truth earlier if you are talking to me as a person, replete with my many flaws, rather than a character of mystery or fantasy. Give this White Rabbit the time and the understanding he needs.
