Trust the Universe to tell you what’s up.
Recently I purchase The Wizard of Us by Jean Houston for my Kindle. I rarely purchase books for my Kindle as there are so many really good ones that you can get for free through newsletters that alert you to what’s being offered free for the day.
But I love Jean Houston and her work was very influential on me when I was working on my Master’s work.
It seemed right on target that she should re – emerge right as I refocus back to Story and working with women, integrating creativity and art rather than just focusing on art alone. So I spent the money.
And Jean basically names what I’m doing now in a way I hadn’t thought about coherently. So let me share because it was really eye-opening for me to read her thoughts on this!
In her book, Jean uses the movie version of The Wizard of Oz as a modern myth to lead us forward in this chaotic and uncertain time. These are snippets from the chapter, “The Courage to Be.”
[This is set from the scene where Dorothy, with Glenda, the Good Witch, has faced down the Wicked Witch, been given the ruby slippers and been told to travel to Emerald City to meet a Powerful Wizard]
It is very difficult to imagine the kind of intestinal fortitude it would take to stop quivering in those ruby slippers in order to take even the first step along that path of yellow bricks…Could you do it? could you skip merrily down that golden path, off the edge of reality, singing with gusto? Or would you run back into your crushed house and lie shivering under what is left of your bed, hoping it will all just go away?…
What do you think of when you imagine a courageous person?..before we go any further, please take a look in the mirror. the most courageous thing you’ve ever done is agree to be born on this planet. congratulate yourself that you’ve made it to this point in your life; you couldn’t have done it without courage. In fact, you are courageous every time you get out of bed in the morning, put on your clothes, and head out the door. It is a profound job to be here…
Courage is about stepping into our grander self, your bigger story. What are your fears, and where do you find that you liit yourself? Are you afraid of standing out, of being noticed? Perhaps you are afraid of making the wrong decision. What are the limiting beliefs that keep you from steeping into your bigger, courageous self?
Chris [Fontana] says, “No one is every read until they start. Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.”
…[Currently] too many leaders have been educated for a different time, a different world. Few are prepared for the task of dealing with the complexity and chaos of today when the usual formulas and stopgap solutions of an earlier era will not help. We must begin to help people, citizens and leaders alike, to bring new mind to bear upon social change. In this way is it hoped that we can rise to the challenge of our times and ferry ourselves across the dangerous abyss that separates a dying era from a new Renaissance.
The work of Social Artistry is evolving and open-ended, striving to provide a dynamic balance between inner understanding and outward expression. The Social Artist is one who brings the focus, perspective, skill training, tireless dedication, and fresh vision of the artist to the social arena. Thus the Social Artists medium is the human community. They seek innovatve solutions to troubling conditions and are lifelong learners every hungry for insightsm, skills, imaginative ideas, and deeper understanding of present-day issues. Social Artists are intimately familiar with the cultures of the places where they choose tow rok. They take the time to learn the storeis, customs, and at lease some of the language with an enthusiastic, positive attitude.
People who agree to this challenge…have done their inner homework. It requires considerable mind, heart, and courage to taku up this work for what is being formed is possible a movement as profound as it is outreaching in its implications for proactive social evolution.
This new naming, this category Jean brings to me in her book – Social Artistry, pretty much puts a context around all the diverse, eclectic experiences of my life – all leading here to something called Social Artistry. The women I have taken on these experiences to work with are headed in the same direction, looking for community, trying to contextualize that which seems to have no context – until you create something called Social Artistry.
You know who you are. Just as I recognized myself as tired of playing small and tired of holding back my intensity, something I’ve even taken to calling ferocity lately, and tired of speaking and writing words that didn’t rock with intensity…you too will have a yearning, a call, an absolute pull to something bigger than yourself. You’re looking for the “how” to go with the “what” and “why” – or maybe you’re still back at the “what” – at the beginning of the yellow brick road. But you’re on a journey and you know it.
Come. Join me! and Welcome – it’s always so much better in community! The Yellow Brick Road, with all its trials and tribulations and community building, is the pathway to a Hell YES! life! It takes everything you’ve learned to date. Aren’t you glad you got those lessons?
1 Comment
Tammy:
This is so true, to learn in community how to share our gifts, our vision and our healing through the artistic vision that sees beyond the walls to the doors and windows of light and hope.
thank you <3