By BETH STYLES | Producer, Composer, Artist
If you’re a fan for life of “The Wizard of Oz” like me, you’re probably familiar with the ‘big reveal’ (spoiler alert…), that moment – when Dorothy’s little dog Toto discovers an inconspicuous booth (how did we not see it earlier?) in the corner, exposing the “man behind the curtain” aka, the “Wizard” (‘Great & Terrible’ Oz) aka an ordinary man (ok, he was a circus magician…) from Nebraska, whose air balloon sailed off course into a land that had never witnessed such a spectacle. Alas, he found himself being worshiped as a great sorcerer, and then painfully doing his best to sustain the myth. Maybe it felt euphoric to be so admired at first, but keeping up the charade had to feel increasingly lonely and bleak… it’s no wonder he morphed into a frightening version of himself… Anyway… THEN… miraculously, Toto steps in as protagonist at this major turning point, barking to the rescue, saving our beloved foursome, the land of Oz, the Wizard, and all of us, if we’re up for it…
Perhaps this ‘historical’ metaphor begs the question, what’s behind the “curtain” for each of us? What possible myths or burdens are we carrying? Maybe the physical masks we grew accustomed to wearing over the past few years helped us sneak and ‘hide out’ more easily… but chances are, we were already skillful in our very own styles of ‘sorcery’ ;). While the lists of possible errs we may torture ourselves with replenish ongoingly, some of what we may be withholding are our biggest, brightest, and highest dreams. If we could only get beyond that ‘curtain’… (where’s Toto?!).
For those who are experiencing a space of healthy mind and spirit, ready to invent new possibilities and adventure in life, here’s what could be a fun perspective on loosening up that “curtain”. Many top life coaches, philosophers, and transformational self-help education courses note, that recognizing the ‘background’ chatter in our minds; our thoughts and feelings – both positive and negative, is one of the first steps in clearing the way for manifesting our highest dreams. And so, as we rise and do our best to shine each new day, tackling our ‘to do’ lists and fulfilling our commitments at work, home, and to ourselves… what’s in the background?
The first step is to recognize the phenomenon itself, that the brain has an ongoing background ‘conversation’, basically on automatic, reacting to whatever stimuli pops up, every waking hour. Sometimes described as the “little voice” in our heads (if you’re saying to yourself “what voice?” you just found it…), it ironically has a mind of its own. In a nutshell, we may not be thinking our own thoughts. But don’t panic… there’s excellent news!! That background chatter is not the actual representative of who we really are. Toto will help us reveal who that is in a moment…
The pickle we find ourselves in as human beings, is that without recognizing the background chatter AND keeping an eye on what it’s saying, our little voice can sometimes go rogue and play a bit of a saboteur. It may have ‘good intentions’ to protect us, and of course we must listen and trust our gut about real danger – but being the rascal that it is – it can often wind up judging life, others, ourselves – misinterpreting the meaning of past experiences, and developing “theories” about the world, that don’t serve our best interests. Without noticing, our background theories can potentially become the lens through which we view all of life. Imagine putting on a pair of glasses with emerald green lenses. After a while, if we forget we have them on, theoretically, we might begin to believe that everything we see is emerald green. If our saboteur has its way, this emerald view of life might have us feeling like we’re stuck in a glop of… SLIME? However, when we give ourselves the lead voice, our view can be a clear path to the Emerald City itself, while sipping a shiny Shamrock Shake!
Becoming aware of what’s in the background – intervening, and showing our chatter who’s boss, can make way for the most freeing, new and bold experiences of our lives. We will continue proving our theories right, but they can be the theories we design. Anything becomes possible. Segue back to Oz… At last – we become our inner Toto, pulling back the curtain… Huzzah!