I recently attended the musical Wicked. It is the story of how the witches became witches in the land of Oz, kind of a prequel to that classic The Wizard of Oz. Beyond extraordinary costumes, unparalleled vocal talent, and memorable music, there are great lessons to be learned. One of the most important is about perspective.
Prior to this certainly we all thought it was all about Dorothy and her little dog Toto. That is who The Wizard of Oz is all about, isn’t it? (I know, I know the title is The Wizard of Oz but really he is in the movie very little.) Well Wicked spun this around and made Dorothy a blip in the story and instead told the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, The Good Witch. What is fascinating is that this opened up the story in a whole new way.
Often we get way too focused on our own story and we forget that there are other people’s stories going on around us all the time. When we can shift our perspective to look at their story instead of solely our own, we will have a much different and bigger experience.
In the case of the Wicked Witch of the West, she, in fact, wasn’t really wicked at all. Instead she had been born green and that made her an outcast with the other kids. She only later discovered that she was also born with some pretty extraordinary talents and abilities, including casting spells. For many years she believed that she was destined to be alone because of her uniqueness.
In the meantime Glinda, who is about as superficial as they come, was the popular choice, the golden girl at the center of every event destined (so she thought) to marry and live happily ever after. (The song where she pays homage to her stunning shoe collection is brilliant!)
The aha moment is when the tables are turned and it is because Elphaba (Wicked Witch) lives from her heart and cares more about what she can give and do than what she gets, while Glinda is all about “what’s in it for me.” Elphaba gets the guy (even if she does accidently turn him into The Scarecrow.) And all Glinda is left with is her glitz.
You will find your own Land of Oz and be on the path to your pot of gold when you live and work from you heart, that place of passion, and not strictly your head and that place of calculation.
Share a comment or story here about how you have gotten beyond your story and grown your perspective.
