Turn Reality Into A Wonderland With Amity Works

I feel like Amity Works is a wonderful idea, I’d love to see how it is when there's a large number of people participating and everyone that has interests that aren't easy to find, people with common interests can meet each other and be friends.

In the “Alice In Wonderland” movie Alice’s father says to her “You’re mad… bonkers… off your head…but I’ll tell you a secret… all the best people are.” What he doesn’t say is how difficult it can be to find like minded people when you’re one of those “mad, bonkers, off your head” type people.

All humans crave deep social connection, and many receive this feeling from their friends and family, but for others, those with more niche personalities, interests, and problems, it can be difficult to find that connection in one’s immediate surroundings.

Anissa Wallace, a 25 year old biology student, fulfills her need for connection through music. She says, “When I was a teenager, I decided to start listening to music that I liked rather than what people around me liked. I started to often feel a deep connection to the music, like I wasn’t alone anymore after I’d heard it.”

She’s struggled to find that same connection from relationships, but Amity Works has given her hope. Anissa says, “I could see how being around people that like what I like, what I chose to like, rather than what would allow me to be around more people, could give me the same feeling that music gave me.”

Beyond music, she also likes to read, walk, do yoga, and play board games. All activities that don’t necessarily lend themselves to meeting new people, especially being that she has an introverted personality. Most friendships she’s developed in the past few years have begun at her workplace, and though she’s happy to be friends with the people that she’s met, she would like to know more people with common interests.

Her favorite book is “Alice In Wonderland” because “It’s a young girl going on an adventure to a new world that’s magical and beautiful and strange.” She goes on to say, “I also like the characters, they’re silly and different and cute and mean and weird.” Or as Alice’s dad might put it, they’re some of the best people.

To make the world a little more like one’s favorite book, all it requires is a little imagination and a cast of “the best people.” And though we can’t provide imagination, Anissa believes that we can provide the characters. Anissa says, “I feel like Amity Works is a wonderful idea, I’d love to see how it is when there's a large number of people participating and everyone that has interests that aren't easy to find, people with common interests can meet each other and be friends.”

To learn more about Amity Works, visit www.amityworks.org and follow us on Instagram at @amityworks .

Pictured above is Anissa Wallace reading her favorite book, "Alice in Wonderland."