The Wizard of Oz has always been classic because of its great story and, of course, for the messages it teaches.   Yearly, children of all ages enjoy it because of the symbolic search for self the characters embark on. The search for personal growth is one that I am very familiar with, the ability to think, have a heart, maintain your courage, and find a home. I think we are all looking for the same things. I have learned a few things on my trip somewhere over the rainbow.

If I only had a Brain

The search for intelligence has changed over time for me. Initially, I thought school was the ultimate expression of your intellect and to what degree you had determined your intelligence.

But life experience has taught me that your natural intellect is revealed when you have a passion for learning something. I have learned more since I turned 44 than I ever conceived of as a college student. I never had a passion for reading about facts and learning new things as I do today, and trying to fit their lessons into my life. If I were a faster learner, perhaps I would have had a happier life.

I believe that all people contain intelligence inside themselves, and they only need the right question to bring it out. Don’t spend a lifetime looking outside yourself for intelligence or intellect. It has existed inside you all along. Embrace it and your magic that will take you anywhere you want to go.

Tales of a Broken Heart

Many of us are just like that tin man, tapping our chests and hearing nothing but an echo shooting back at us. Yet, the heart is always there, and it has to be for us to exist. Some are hard to find in people as they act callously toward us or others. But some semblance of pulmonary machinery exists, and you have to look hard in some people.

An emotional heart is in everyone, but we try to protect it too much. Nothing hurts as bad as when it is broken, but that is a part of the process. There is an inherent risk in any relationship that if you love someone, you may be hurt. It is one of the elements of life that make no sense. Something good goes terrible; pleasure becomes pain; joy becomes sorrow, yin, yang, light and dark; we are all pawns to our strongest emotions.

This fact goes for loving your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, children, grandparents, or friends. Because it hurts so much, that is why we construct such stable structures around our hearts. The problem with this is that it is hard to get any guidance from a heart so deeply buried. Let it rise to the surface and take your chances. That is life. No guarantees.

Remember that your heart is available to you anytime you want to use it. Any tin walls around it can be removed simply by deciding to do so. But know also there is no warranty on your heart and no return policy either. It will allow you to love all the good, bad, joyful, and painful stuff that comes with it.

What have they got that I ain’t got?

When it comes to courage, we all face fears all the time. Some are big, like a fear of death or heights, and some are pretty small. There is a twinge of fear in each action that we either overcome or succumb to. I think I have given in way more than I would ever like to admit. To the horror of what others think, fear of failure, fear of success, and fear of being happy. (as silly as that sounds)

Courage to me is recognizing the thing that frightens you and still moving forward anyway. As life progresses, people create routines and structures that seem to protect us from fear, but it still exists.   My search for courage is to be myself in every moment, regardless of what others think. To open myself up to life and love and accept the results, even when they aren’t what I would choose. I still endeavor to try to be happy and try to be brave for another day. Some days I have retreated, but we all have days like that. I have been knocked down 100 times and gotten up 101.

Your fear may be something else.   We all have the courage inside us to face whatever adversity we face. It isn’t always easy, but it can be done. Have courage in your journey, and you will find success.

No Place Like Home

Some would say that home is where the heart is, and others might say that home is where you can be accepted and loved for who you are. No matter what definition you use, I think searching for a home is a lifelong one.

I am fortunate to have experienced a lot of pleasant experiences in my life, but I am unfortunate that I have never found my home. Home is one of the places that I have been looking for all of my life, and I have thought I found it before but was mistaken. I also know what I may encounter is finding the home I am thinking of is an impossibility, or it may be something that I have known all along. There is a sneaking suspicion inside me. Home is not out there somewhere over the rainbow but residing much closer to me, right inside myself, just waiting to be recognized. Once accepted and understood, the world might make sense. We can’t find a home in another place or another person, and we can only share our home with them, and they theirs with us.

Either way, those who have found this in their lives should be grateful. I am thankful for the idea that home will be possible someday, and I dream of it because there is no place like home.

So, What have you learned, Dorothy?

So as I express my gratitude for this movie and the search for a brain, a heart, courage, and a home. I urge all of you who have these things to be grateful for them. If you are still searching, that is OK too.

Life is nothing but a search for all of our missing pieces, which exist out there somewhere. If I only knew where a wizard was hiding behind a curtain, perhaps I would find mine more efficiently.