Art of Innocence, A True Foe Against Evil?

One of my nieces

In the beginning was a void of darkness, an era of nothingness, soon came the light. At first the light was pure, breeding brilliant nature, then the creative whims of humans set love and laughter into motion. Human narcissism shrouded love and laughter with greed and judgment, and now only the innocence harbored in the hearts of young children can balance good and evil, a crude balance, but one that often subdues evil enough for love and laughter to be perennial emotions. 

Mother night, caress me with your dark embrace. I yearn for the solace of the shadows, yet revel in the sunshine, too weird to live, too rare to die. Hunter S. Thompson / Mark (Izzy) Schurr

Amidst the spheres of nonsense, mind journeys and the thirst for understanding  child and adulthood, there's a lot of thoughts and facts for the brain to explore.  

A 151 years ago in 1865, the book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" ignited imaginations across the universe and harsh accusations against its author Lewis Carroll. Some people, I didn't research the names, claim Carroll was a pedophile. More details will follow on this horrid subject, but for now the sure facts and mind fascinations must be addressed. 

The 1951 Disney cartoon "Alice in Wonderland" brought Carroll's words to life. The theme of this story is about children wanting to grow up too fast while adults want to get back some of their childhood. The tea party chapter in Carroll's book details these facts. The Mad Hatter for example is a childish goofy adult while Alice, the young girl is the mature one at the Mad Hatters tea party. 

Regardless of the books theme, the vivid use of imagination is a bountiful buffet for the souls appetite toward creativity and entertainment. In the grand scheme of existence, "Alice In Wonderland"  has yet to be born, while at the same moment is as infinite as time itself.

As recently as 2010, acclaimed fantasy movie director Tim Burton hailed Hollywood heavy weights Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, among others to re-recreate Carroll's bombastic book into a major motion picture. Disney screen writer Linda Woolverton sagaciously combined Carroll's book "Jabberwocky" with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," to thrust  the imagination into a magical maze of wonderment. 

Alice wants an escape from her everyday life and gets more than she bargained for when she sails down the deep rabbit hole, and into a dream world sifting on the waters of reality and fantasy. A world where the sleeping brain and the woken consciousness weave into a bizarre basket of fear and joy. 

My allure to Carroll's"Alice In Wonderland" is that his main character is a young adorable girl whose adventures are limited only to her imagination. Myself, like Carroll, am fascinated by little girls. For me, it's a non sadistic, nor perverted or twisted fascination to be around little girls. 

Two years ago I was reading to a beautiful preschool aged girl at the YMCA as her infectious smile, hugs and yearning for more stories accelerated my desire for all children to laugh and be safe.

An author stated that Carroll, a few years before the release of his very own "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" would hang out with young girls and tell them his made up stories, one of which was his money maker; "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." These little girls, including Alice Liddell, a preachers daughter whose parents were friends and close counter parts with Carroll for several years hounded Carroll for more of 'his' stories and not that of other authors.

One of my many nieces

Was Carroll a pedophile? "The Annotated Alice; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass" has a several page introduction about Carroll's life written by former journalist and mathematician Martin Gardner who passed away in May of 2010. Gardener and the other writer pointed out that "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was inspired by the real life girl, Alice Liddell. Both authors claim Carroll was not a pedophile, but illustrated the accusations of why he might have been one.

Despite being born into a wealthy family and becoming a highly successful writer, Carroll never married, nor was he a womanizer despite having the money to do so. Liddell, the real life Alice was banned from seeing Carroll by her parents as time went on Gardener said.

Another niece

Gardener said Carroll liked to draw and photograph little girl posing naked with their mothers permission. This is definitely a red flag that he may have been a sick evil pervert, but on the other hand, a way of illustrating that innocence is timeless.

YWCA children being creative

Yes, drawing and taking pictures of nude little girls is completely wrong in my mind, but having a pound of wisdom from reading and research, drawings and taking pictures of naked little girls in England, (Carroll was English) in the 1800's was a projection of innocence.

To this very day, some parents post nude pictures of their little children in the tub or just out of the tub on Facebook, it's an illustration of innocence's to some, while to sadistic others, an evil arousal.

The facts we all have today; Carroll was never arrested for being a child molester, basked in the company of young girls and was never married, despite his riches. Perhaps he was an evil soul exploring his sins on under aged girls. On the other side of the coin, he may have been a true romantic, yet before his success, women never paid him any mind, so as a true romantic assumed the women close to him really were only attracted to his wallet, which may explain his intrigue and wanting to share his time with the innocence of young girls.

Food break and smiles at the YWCA

Currently and in his day, Carroll like the recently deceased pop icon Michael Jackson, may have been a sick sadistic prick or a very loving eccentric.

A wild irony toward romance, I'm too unsuccessful for true love, and even if I were to become wealthy, I'd have the attitude; women didn't want me when I was poor, so if I was rich, I'd believe she loves my wallet and not me. If I do become rich, I want to adopt five adorable girls and raise them to become the first five women to start in the NBA. 

Maybe my fantasy girls would even solve the M-theory, a theory that if discovered, would give a definitive answer to the creation of human-kind. Stephen Hawking mentioned the M-theory in his 2010 book, "The Grand Design." It stands for master, miracle or mystery theory, perhaps none of the above. Hawking even said no one, including himself did not know for sure what the 'M' stands for. Hawking said Albert Einstein was working on the M-theory before he died. This theory would prove once and for all if there is or is not a God, Gods, and exactly how we (humans) got here. 

E=Mc2 divided by time X xy, - the beginning plus light...  

One time in 2006, as a teacher at Merryhill preschool, I was sitting at a table with the two girls below and some other kids while drawing and coloring free hand with them.

Making playdough

"You draw like us Mark," the girl in black said to me.  

In 2013, while teaching at the YWCA, A Special Place, I was reading a book to the below pictured little girl. The book was about jobs and careers, and focused on what people do when they grow-up. The book had many pictures of doctors, lawyers, chefs, janitors and many more uniformed adults in their work attire. 

"What do you wanna be when you grow-up?,"  this 5-year-old girl said to me after I read her the book. 

I replied a writer, and she asked what that was. I said a writer is someone who makes up the stories I read to her and the other kids. 

"I wanna do that," she said.