There's no place like home

Remember Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz?

During a tornado, she’s transported to a distant, magical land. What she wants most is to return home, but her journey proves turbulent.

She meets a variety of strangers, makes some friends along the way, learns a lot about herself, and ends up in the Emerald City to find the Wizard who, apparently, has the power to help return Dorothy home.

Tragedy ensues when Dorothy discovers the Wizard is a fake, but then Glinda (the good witch) points out that Dorothy has the power to return home whenever she wants.

In fact, Dorothy has possessed this power all along. Throughout her entire journey.

When Dorothy asks Glinda why she did not let her in on this secret earlier, Glinda told Dorothy had to learn it for herself.

"YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD THE POWER MY DEAR, YOU JUST HAD TO LEARN IT FOR YOURSELF.”

Glinda the Good Witch, The Wizard of Oz

My dear, you might be like Dorothy.

And you’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.

You’ve worked your whole life to get to where you are and, yet, you might be thinking…

“Is this all there is?”

“This doesn’t feel as good as I thought it would.”

“I’ve achieved what I wanted, earlier than I wanted. So, now what?”

You’re not alone.

* * *

As girls, we grew up hearing that we could be anything that we wanted — that we could have it all.

Our parents and teachers told us that we were special snowflakes who could achieve whatever our little hearts desired.

And so, we set out to try our hardest to…

Achieve “success” (as defined by others)

Be everything to everyone (be yourself, just not TOO much)

Have it all (while killing ourselves and putting our own needs on the back burner)

* * *

Like Dorothy, we find ourselves so far away from home.

We wake up one day, have a look around, and realize that we’re “somewhere” but that somewhere doesn’t look anything like we expected it to.

We’ve been so focused on achieving, pleasing others and having it all that we become detached from what we truly want and who we truly are.

So, we begin a solitary, arduous journey to find ourselves and our purpose somewhere out there.

Unlike Dorothy, we fail to recognize that we have the power to return home inside of us all along.

* * *

Let’s learn from Dorothy.

Let’s recognize the power deep within ourselves.

Let’s reconnect with what really lights us up.

Let’s remember what it’s like to be filled with joy and life and laughter.

Let’s revive our most playful, expressive selves.

Let’s redefine what it means to be successful.

Let’s reflect on what got us here, and what we need to begin showing up in our lives as our fullest, most authentic selves.

* * *

What I want for you my dear, strong woman, is for you to connect with and tap into your true nature.

I want you to reveal the power that already exists inside of you.

But this isn’t something I can just tell you how to do.

You have to learn it yourself.

It’s time to click your heels together and say: “There’s no place like home.”