The Other Alice Synchronicity and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Recently, I have been writing about the Wonderland synchronicities I experienced as I created The Alice Journal. Before creating comics, I only had one synchronicity that I could remember in my life. Maybe synchronicities are happening more now because my mind has been occupied with the projects I've been working on.

(Read about the other Alice synchronicity that helped me conduct my first workshop.)

Here is the other Alice synchronicity that happened during the Toronto trip.

Our trip was short, just to attend TCAF over the weekend. We had some free time on Friday to explore. At my partner's suggestion, we visited the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. (He likes rare books.) The exhibit, "Popular Culture in Early Modern English Household Print 1660-1800" was on display. It was interesting, but little did I realize that I could experience Lewis Carroll himself an hour later!

Here is where the synchronicity happened.

My partner, who is good at starting conversations with strangers, began chatting with the receptionist about the library. During their conversation, out of the blue, she mentioned that their Lewis Carroll collection was one of the biggest in the world!

When my partner said that I had created The Alice Journal, she suggested that we go downstairs to talk to the librarian, who was an expert on their Alice collection. So we did! The librarian was so nice that she curated interesting Lewis Carroll books for us to see that day! I had goosebumps while all this was happening.

In the beautiful reading room, I was able to hold books that Lewis Carroll himself had inscribed or illustrated. And they weren't ordinary inscriptions. They were beautiful mirror-image writing and tiny fairy letters! And his pencil drawing of the Mad Hatter was so exquisite! I didn't know he was such a skillful artist.  

Also, the library looked like the well Alice fell into. From the reading room on the lower floor, I could see multiple levels of bookshelves in 360 degrees. I felt like I was in Wonderland.

Holding the books Lewis Carroll held and inscribed over 150 years ago, I finally felt him much closer to him. He was a playful, creative person, much like me! 

Before this, even though I loved his work and read about him, he was just a historical figure. There was always this time gap. I felt happiness in finally closing this gap and feeling closer to who he was as a person. This is what synchronicity did for me. Life is so curious.