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.
Melissa, I saw Wicked the last time it played at the Fox and was completely blown away by it too. I did not know the back story before I went and was just fascinated about the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda. I love what you said about “living from your heart.” We should all put that to practice in our lives. Great post!
Thanks Debbie,
Yes, it was a wonderful show and I’d go again!
Hugs, Melissa
I started out in business as a coach; I had always seen myself as one, I was a person others came to for help and to talk through things. As a coach I had some moderate success and clients got great results. However, I knew inside something wasn’t quite right.
A few months ago, I acknowledged what I really wanted to do was techy VA stuff. I’m really good at it and absolutely love doing it, I also kept running into women entrepreneurs who desperately needed help in that area. I made the decision to change direction with my business and in the first month, made more money than in all the time I was coaching. I have clients now and more want to work with me, I am even raising my rates and that seems to be attracting even more people.
I still use my coaching skills because I can talk with a client and suggest things or listen and pull out ideas and possibilities from the client or introduce new ways of thinking to them.
Following my heart has not only generated more income, it has created an excitement in my business and with people I encounter. People are responding to me like never before and my business is moving forward at an amazing pace.
Caroline,
Congratulations! That is awesome to have made the transition to living in alignment with your heart values and experiened the rewards.
You never know, I may be calling you one of these days, lol. Tech stuff isn’t my forte!
Hugs, Melissa