Lion, and Tin Man, and Scarecrow, Oh My!

One never learns how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her – is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if so is he not a devil? ~Wicked

Thank goodness for today! What a wonderful day spent with family. As our national celebration of the Day of Giving Gratitution is winding down, I only have a few clock ticks left to share what’s been on my mind. So, this will be unpolished and without a pretty pink bow atop adjusted just so. And there most definishly won’t be enough time to apply any glitter for that extra shimmer. It’s just me typing my thoughts on my technological pocket clock…

As I like to put a timestamp on my thoughts, my fellow Ozians and I are in our Wicked movie release era. Lion, and Tin Man, and Scarecrow, oh my! Ballyhoo, butterflies, and bubbles galore! I’m obsessulated. Some of us switched gears from orange glitter in October, to pink going good with green in November. From Showgirl to Girl in the Bubble. It’s been a truly festivating fall! Don’t mind me just singing and dancing through life over here…

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…Oh! Speaking of dance…I happened to get back to Bolero the other day. (It’s one of my favorite styles within the world of ballroom dance.) I hadn’t felt well enough for all of those spins until last weekend. Can I just take a moment to express how thrillifying it was? Towards the end, I lost my balance, and my instructor shared some thoughts that sent me home like the clicking of Dorothy’s red glitter heels. “Becoming off-balance is your best teacher; you learn where and how to correct, and you learn what your limits are. This helps you find your edge. It’s because of losing balance that you learn to control your body and move in the direction you want to go, like riding a motorcycle. Dance is physics, and sending energy while still maintaining balance takes conscious effort.” Wow. What a life lesson! I always say…it’s never really just about dance.

What he said reminded me of something I heard on a podcast the other day about resilience in the face of adversity. “Without overcoming anything, we won’t have a sense of true fulfillment. That which we believe to be the obstacle is actually the path.” The host and his guests were discussing the process of discomfort, and they referred to it as “earning the light.” I thought that was a really beautiful way of looking at challenges, and something again clicked for me. We have to put in effort to receive our joy, it’s not something that’s handed to us on a silver platter. It’s easy to slip into the shadows of despair, but joy is hard work. (Oh, the gravity of this! I think I need to lie down. Or eat a pastry.) I’ve often written about light and shadows in my blogs, and Wicked is all about that kind of imagery too. And well…now I’m silently rejoicifying at these connections!

So last Christmas, I gave my heart to the first book in the Wicked series. While it’s a heavy book to digest (and I definishly prefer the musical and movies!), I appreciated the introspective struggle that arose from it. You know, my favorite books aren’t the ones with a fairy-tale plot and happy ending, but the ones that challenge me to think deeper. This story had me pondering the perception of goodness vs. wickedness. Of Glinda living in the light of the public eye vs. Elphaba living within a shadowed existence. This dynamic duo fights for what they believe in, but on very different paths, indeed.

My unrealistic desire for a utopian existence tends to clash with the evil that terrorizes our world. The philosophical question this book brought up for me was this…without wickedness could we truly understand what goodness is? (And this is by no means a justification for any kind of wickedness, it’s just my brain contemplating if one idea can actually exist without the other. My heart was overcome with emotion when I heard Elphaba talk with Glinda about this theme in the new movie.)

Wickedness proves what goodness is, just as the shadow proves the sunshine. In a similar sense, without obstacles in life there would be nothing to overcome…and we wouldn’t experience growth. Without proverbial forks in the Yellow Brick Road of life, we wouldn’t develop courage, we wouldn’t expand our brains, and we couldn’t earn our joy. Without the journey, we might be lions, and tin men, and scarecrows, oh my!

Now that I’m thinking about Dorothy and Company on their quest to visit the wizard, it seems to me they all share the Lion’s desire for courage. Expanding our brains, opening our hearts, and searching for home all require it. And where courage is required, we are sure to find risk and pain, but I’d much rather have a heart that can break, than to not have one at all.

When I was a mere munchkin, I thought if I did everything as perfect as possible, life would turn out perfectly. It’s kind of comical to think about that now. We all go through storms and sleepless nights, right? Some of them are truly life-altering, and we never know where tragedy will strike next. Much of the time we don’t understand a situation until it’s passed. Glinda said, “There are bridges you cross you didn’t know you crossed until you’ve crossed.” To exist is to face confusifying challenges and shattered dreams, but at the same time being alive is a blessing. I think viewing our journey as “earning the light” makes it easier to accept missteps and obstacles as opportunities for growth, instead of seeing them as moments of failure and defeat. Every friendship, relationship, move, injury, and surgery; the mountain top victories, and the metaphorical wrestling matches with reality…they’re all chapters in our story that I have to believe get us where we’re supposed to be. It’s taken me a long time to accept this, but I think joy and peace come because of going through difficult seasons and finding our courage along the way. It’s true for Elphaba and Glinda, and I love seeing how their friendship changes them both for good.

Without wickedness could we truly understand what goodness is? If questions are food for thought, this one has been a Thanksgiving feast within my thought balloon. I could go on and on about this story, but look at the time! I simply don’t have enough clock ticks to talk about all the powerful themes surrounding these two fictitious witches.

Since we can’t wave a magic wand and commandify evil away for good, I suppose all we can do is become the light chasing out the darkness. I think the Taylor Swift lyrics below are quite fitting and uplifting. I guess it wasn’t too difficult to find a pretty pink ribbon to tie this all together after all. As I throw a handful of virtual glittery confetti into the world wide web, I’m wishing you a Happy Day of Giving Gratitution!

Opalite by Taylor Swift ~ This is just a storm inside a teacup, But shelter here with me, my love, Thunder like a drum, this life will beat you up, up, up, up, This is just a temporary speed bump, But failure brings you freedom, And I can bring you love, love, love, love, love! Don’t you sweat it, baby, It’s alright, you were dancing through the lightning strikes, Sleepless in the onyx night, But now the sky is opalite, Oh oh oh oh, oh my Lord never made no one like you before, no, You had to make your own sunshine, but now the sky is opalite, Oh oh oh oh oh!