The Acceptance Project | Personal Growth, Self-Care, & Emotional Health
Jul 28, 2026 · 18 min · 10 segments
Belonging is one of the most universal human needs, so why does **feeling like you don't belong** happen so often, even when you're surrounded by other people? In this episode, Dr. Bryan Gross…
Bryan GrossHost
Lewis Carroll introduced him in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland back in 1865, and Disney later brought him to life in the animated film many of us know today.
He celebrates un-birthdays, pours tea whenever he feels like it, and somehow manages to make complete confusion look perfectly normal.
Long before Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, there was already a common saying, mad as a hatter.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, many hat makers used mercury while producing felt hats.
Historians still debate whether Carroll himself intentionally based his character on those hat makers, but the phrase was already familiar to readers when the book was published.
So whether or not that was Carol's intention doesn't really matter anymore because the Mad Hatter has grown into something much bigger.
He's become a symbol for anyone who's ever been told they're too different, too unusual, too loud, maybe too quiet or emotional, and awkward, or just simply too much.
And if we're honest, most of us have probably felt like the Mad Hatter at one point or another.
The Mad Hatter isn't trying to become someone else just to make everyone around him comfortable.
He may be one of the most misunderstood characters in literature, which is exactly why he fits so naturally into the heart of Bridging Success and here at the Acceptance Project podcast.
Lewis Carroll introduced him in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland back in 1865, and Disney later brought him to life in the animated film many of us know today.
He celebrates un-birthdays, pours tea whenever he feels like it, and somehow manages to make complete confusion look perfectly normal.
Long before Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, there was already a common saying, mad as a hatter.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, many hat makers used mercury while producing felt hats.
Historians still debate whether Carroll himself intentionally based his character on those hat makers, but the phrase was already familiar to readers when the book was published.
So whether or not that was Carol's intention doesn't really matter anymore because the Mad Hatter has grown into something much bigger.
He's become a symbol for anyone who's ever been told they're too different, too unusual, too loud, maybe too quiet or emotional, and awkward, or just simply too much.
And if we're honest, most of us have probably felt like the Mad Hatter at one point or another.
The Mad Hatter isn't trying to become someone else just to make everyone around him comfortable.
He may be one of the most misunderstood characters in literature, which is exactly why he fits so naturally into the heart of Bridging Success and here at the Acceptance Project podcast.
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