Reading Again: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Chapters 1-3), An ordinary Rabbit with an extraordinary waistcoat and watch.

[Alice] was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet [. . .]

Oh, Alice. Alice the naive and, at least so far, cat-obsessed. Alice the hesitant to exert the simple effort to pick flowers, but Alice the quick to chase after Rabbits at the simple look of a watch.

Right off, Alice forces one to confront the age old question: If a talking Rabbit with a waistcoat and pocket-watch ran by, how long would it take before I noticed something out of the ordinary was happening? Another way of asking this question might be the following: How perceptive am I?

Thinking about this question makes me confront how I often exert minimal effort in perceiving my environment. Often, I focus my perception only to what I consider useful at that given time and largely ignore everything else. I filter out background noise or I ignore details of buildings/signs with no direct bearing on my safe driving. I suppose this is a necessary and useful skill since I can only process so much stimuli at one time, but I sometimes wonder if it makes me miss out on Wonderland in the moment.

If I really payed attention, how many more wonder-filled moments would I find everyday? Responsibility and real life require me to filter, but Alice helps remind me to remember to perceive both the ordinary and the extraordinary. Sometimes, like Alice, it will take thinking back and reflection to fully grasp some of what happens, but my Adventures in Fort Waynederland are happening whether I perceive them or not. I should probably pay attention before it's "too late."