The Wizard of OZ (1939) | Why do we keep looking for someone else to tell us who we are?

What did you think about my work?

How did I do today? 

Where do I go from here?

These are questions we ask others to gain some understanding and seek guidance.

But what if the questions begin to take the shape of identity?

What if we are not just asking others for direction, but asking them who we are and who we should become?

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion are on a journey to follow the yellow brick road and seek the wisdom and guidance of a great and powerful leader.

And through their journey, as they ask questions about the nature of their world and the direction of their goals, they learn a lot about themselves.

By the time they find the Wizard, they have already asked others along the way: Glinda, the Munchkins, even the Wicked Witch.

And each answer seems to point them back toward asking someone else.

We are placed into an environment we don’t truly understand, in a world where we grow with each year and experience.

We look for guides along the way, and that guidance helps shape us.

But we can also fall into a trap when we begin to ask the same questions over and over, looking for approval in the choices we make.

If the steps we take to learn from experience and advice get us closer to who we are, then the guidance we seek can become advice we choose to take.

Reflection

The ability to make a decision is an awesome ability.

And the willingness to reflect on those choices can help us understand who we are.

As long as we remember that the questions we ask and the guidance we seek can inform us.

But they do not decide the person we become.

Video Review

Pay attention to the stories that stay with you.
They’re pointing somewhere.

Map how it made you feel on EmotiBear.
See what your pattern reveals.