Stepping Stones

Dying to the Old - Week One

As we follow along the Hero’s Journey with Dorothy, the first interruption into her ordinary reality is Ms. Gulch, the angry neighbor who is upset that Toto is creating a disturbance in her world. We see Ms. Gulch trying to “enforce the law” by demanding Toto be taken to the authorities. Dorothy appeals to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry for support, but they remind her that “we can’t go against the law, Dorothy.” Metaphorically, these early scenes in the movie show us that Dorothy is not functioning as the hero in her own story. She feels powerless over the social norms of her family and community, and trapped by the expectation that she stay out of trouble, keep quiet and not create a commotion. We see her intuition, Toto, trying to stir things up, but the community doesn’t like it. If we are going to take our place in the center of our own story, authentically responding to the desires and urgings of our deepest Self, we should expect to bump into the expectations that others have for us or for our lives, just like Dorothy bumped into Ms. Gulch, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry in these early scenes in the movie.

Weekly Stepping Stones

What parts of your life have begun to feel uncomfortable, outgrown or limiting in some way? How do you feel your intuition pushing you to shift or change? Where in your life do you experience resistance to expressing more of yourself or to making changes in how you are living?