Wizard of Oz

“You cannot heal or change what you do not acknowledge”

I was channel surfing the other night and there it was, The Wizard of Oz. I decided to watch it. I have vivid memories of seeing it the first time when I was a kid. It was on a Sunday afternoon at a theater in Oklahoma City. It scared me. I’ve seen it several times since then– it was pretty much an annual event with my children. The other night when I watched it, I realized that it is a great metaphor for my personal experience of Freedom Seminars. When I came into the training room, I was like Dorothy – lost, trying to find my way back. The only difference is she knew where “back” was – Kansas. I didn’t even know where I needed to be heading. I just knew I felt lost. I also felt like the Scarecrow – didn’t have a brain. I grew up feeling like I was not very smart and continued to feel that way as an adult. Not only did I feel lost and dumb, I felt dead. Like the Tin Man, I didn’t have a heart. To top it all off, I was missing the Lion-like courage to make the changes necessary to live my life better and more fully. So I was a mess when I walked into the room….lost, dumb, dead, and scared. One of the first tools that hit me was, “You cannot heal or change what you do not acknowledge.” Through the process of the training, though, I began to trust my fellow trainees enough to be open and to look inside. As I acknowledged the state I was in, I began to confront the flying monkeys and evil witches.

I finally realized that the “wizard” was inside of me all along and that I already possessed the intelligence, the courage, and the heart to get back home – a place of peace, love, and personal power. Freedom Seminars truly helped me find my way back. Now, if I stray too far from home - to that place of feeling lost, dumb, dead or scared – I reclaim my contract: I am a free and loving woman. In a flash, I go back to the training room and relive the experiences, the emotions, and the loving and supportive friends who were on their journey with me. Ahh, there’s no place like home – it’s like clicking the ruby slippers together.

June 2010

~ Marsha Medcalf