Insight of the Week: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Just as Dorothy, in the film the Wizard of Oz, we are all following a yellow brick road.  And along this road, like Dorothy, we meet various people who represent aspects of ourselves that we have disowned and whose purpose it is to help us reclaim those parts of ourselves by reflecting it back to us.  This film was such a wonderful metaphor for the spiritual journey and the true purpose of life.  As Dorothy follows the road to Oz she finds courage, her brain (knowledge) and her heart.  When she reaches Oz (a metaphor for the state of full self-realization) she learns that she doesn’t need a wizard to find her way home – she always had the power to “return home” she just needed to figure it out for herself as the Good Witch of the North informs her.  Is it a coincidence that this film has been beloved for over 60 years? And continues to resonate generation after generation?  No, because through the art of film making this motion picture has created a true portrayal of the purpose of all human life.

Much like our own lives, we are all on a path of self-development/self-realization/evolution, whether we are aware of it or not.  Our purpose? To reclaim the parts of ourselves we ignore, do not wish to look at, and pretend do not exist, in an attempt, to become whole, authentic, and live in our truth.  It’s not an easy road by any stretch of the imagination.  Along this path of life, different people and experiences come and go.  Each one bringing a lesson and/or opportunity for a peek into who we are and how we define ourselves.  Depending on what we are willing “to see”; we either choose to re-define ourselves or close the door once again which only leads to having another similar scenario come into play with different people, different circumstances, yet the same scene…over and over again until we are willing to look at that aspect of ourselves that needs to learn and heal.

It is true that looking at our own behavior, and the root beliefs from which they stem, can be scary, painful, distressing, and full of regrets. This is part of the process of awareness, release, healing, and transformation.   When we close the door because we are not yet ready “to see” ourselves we fall into “distracting” ourselves with mindless events, outings, and conversations that do not add value merely fill time, and we start “surface skating” through life.  This can be derailing even for the best of us.  Many of us fill our time with mindless distractions as a method of avoidance to what really needs to be addressed. Yet it is always there just beneath the surface. Always waiting to make itself known. When we don’t heed the call, it taps louder and louder causing more disruption in our life (such as divorce, bankruptcy, illness etc). Take courage.  This is a road traversed by many before you. Support and the road to healing presents itself as you begin to walk out onto it and not before.  Take a new way, re-define yourself, behave differently, do away with what no longer serves you positively.  Yes, some will be hurt, others will fall away…even those closest to you- friends, family…but they are meant to, for they’re only in your life for as long as it takes you to grow into a new level of your own emotional, mental or spiritual development.  It’s all part of the life process.  Nothing is truly ever lost.  Living consciously means to be in awareness of your thoughts, words, and actions. Alignment and integration of these three things means to live fully self-realized and free. Make the decision, commit to your own development so that your life may be filled with the freedom of deep connection, peace, and the love you crave but never thought possible.