Midlife Miracles

Kansas

In opening scenes of the Wizard of Oz we find an orphaned Dorothy living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in Kansas.  Dorothy is attempting to get the attention of her aunt and uncle because she is feeling threatened by teacher Miss Gulch who is threatening to hurt her dog Toto.   Even hired hands Zeke, Hunk and Hickory minimize her dilemma.

No one is listening.

In the opening scenes of our lives, we are given the seeds of the beautiful, divine and powerful aspects of personhood. As we grow we become shaped and defined with ideas, values and duties by the world around us from our parents, our teachers and our culture which is as it should be.  However, sometimes circumstances in life appear to derail us and we pick up messages that say we are not good enough; we are not ok, not worthy or deserving.  As life goes on our true identity becomes muffled by the sounds of busy making, of pleasing others, and aligning ourselves with the status quo.

We are no longer listening.

In the opening scenes of midlife crisis, our inner creative force is kicking up a fuss. It will no longer settle for less.  It refuses to play small.  It refuses to suffocate in the mediocre.  The orphaned pieces of ourselves we have discarded, devalued and find unacceptable are conspiring within.  They boil upwards until we can no longer keep the lid on them.  We can no longer grit our teeth and pretend all is well.  Counterfeit love notes are being swept away by the winds of change.  Our soul rummages through the drawers of our lives seeking the truth of our own authentic destiny.  The storm clouds are gathering with tornado warnings.   We see the funnel sweeping in our direction.

Now we are listening.

Tidbit:  The state motto for Kansas comes from the Latin, “Ad astra per aspera”, meaning ‘To the stars through difficulties’.