I’ve been doing some shadow work lately, and something clicked. I think we all have “personal fairy tales”—the stories we attached to before we had language for what we were living. Mine were Alice in Wonderland and Chicken Little. As a kid, my dad would put on Alice every night and check out. I learned how to disappear. I didn’t just watch her go down the rabbit hole—I went with her. That world felt safer than reality. Imagination became regulation. And then there was Chicken Little. I didn’t just like her, I became her. I built a whole world—Chicken Land—with my grandpa. But archetypally, she’s the alarm system: scanning, warning, expecting disaster. Not random. When your environment feels unpredictable, your nervous system adapts. So I developed two modes: escape… or prepare for catastrophe. Both protected me. But what keeps you safe as a child can keep you stuck as an adult. “Alice” becomes dissociation. “Chicken Little” becomes anxiety. And if you’re not aware of it, you build an identity around it—call it depth, intuition, being wired differently. Sometimes that’s true. And sometimes… it’s just an old pattern. I’m not trying to get rid of these parts. I’m learning balance. Not disappearing. Not bracing for impact. Just being here. It’s quieter. Less intense. A little unfamiliar. But more stable. The stories you loved as a child weren’t just stories. They were mirrors. What were yours? 🖤 The Purple Phoenix Collective