That Perfect Riddle

I just awoke from a nap, and though I'm not sure it was in my dream, per se, the following was what was swirling in my head as I awoke:

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

This particular riddle is a curious one from Alice in Wonderland that has been oft cited as having had no answer when Lewis Carroll penned it.  (And isn't it fascinating indeed how literature we love frequently often poses the most interesting questions for us to answer or to let percolate as we ponder?)

The Mad Hatter poses this riddle to Alice soon after she joins his unbirthday tea party by accident in Wonderland, and then he turns it on her as she roots around in her mind for the answer:



There are some funny, witty, or at least cheeky answers to this riddle that people on the Internet have come up with over the years, but the consensus appears to be that Lewis Carroll really had no answer in mind when he originally inserted the riddle into his story (though he later placated his questioning readers with a relatively unsatisfying answer, in my humble opinion).

Here's a link to a short piece I stumbled upon on that point:  https://io9.gizmodo.com/5872014/the-answer-to-the-most-famous-unanswerable-fantasy-riddle

Curiouser and curioser, as Alice would say.

It's funny, though.  This question has come up in my house many times over the years, each time referenced as being an answerless riddle... to connote silliness... just for the pure nonsensical quality of it.   

And while we're on the topic of the Mad Hatter, an aside is in order, I think:

I once participated in a non-profit arts organization year-long board training experience in Dallas called Leadership Arts Institute.  And at the culmination of a year's worth of blood, sweat, and tears I poured into that work in the arts community in Dallas, we had a graduation ceremony of sorts.  And each of us in Leadership Arts was tasked with coming up with a creative graduation hat and giving a short speech to the group of us who participated.  I was the chair of the steering committee that led our project, so I felt I had to wield that authority I'd been gifted by my peers responsibly and thoughtfully, in a way that might even move them.  In short, I felt obligated to say something lovely about the unforgettable group of people I worked with who helped my crazy vision of our project come to fruition.  So I found a gigantic Mad Hatter hat that I wore, and I said this in my speech to the crowd:




The Hatter:  “Have I gone mad?"

Alice: “I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are." 



(And I think it almost invariably should be read in a British accent.)

Here's a more polished version:



Perhaps the raven riddle is pure charming madness.  And because a little madness may be one of the most wonderful things about a person, I probably would be satisfied if that were the answer.

But then shortly after I awoke from my nap with the raven riddle swirling in my head, I serendipitously saw this American Indian horoscope link a friend posted on Facebook as I mindlessly scrolled for a few moments after I awoke.  It said my horoscope (appearing to correspond with Libra dates) was the Raven.  It also said my best time of day is between 3 and 5 p.m.  (I'll note for you that I was, in fact, born during this window, for starters.)  It described the Raven as follows (perhaps at least some of this is accurate):  "Highly enthusiastic and a natural entrepreneur the Raven is quite the charmer.  As a Raven, you possess a type of easy energy that everyone relies on.  As a Raven, you are quite the idealist but also calculating at the same time.  Under positive circumstances, the Raven is very easy going, romantic, and almost invariably soft-spoken.  In relationships, the Raven is intuitive and patient."  Another website, corroborating that I am a Raven, said that "Raven people are highly clairvoyant and see real magic in all things.  Though indecisive, a Raven's love, once gifted, is the truest of trues.  On this turn of the medicine wheel, Raven's lesson is to gain a more balanced emotional life."

So I think today I've come up with what I find is a satisfying answer to the raven riddle, and it is this: that both a raven and a writing desk are something beautiful upon which to write.