There is No Place Like Home
As a Career Consultant probing the psychology of success in the New Work World, I recently reflected on the words of Dorothy in the classic film, “The Wizard of Oz.” She says:
“There is no place like home.”
At the opening of the film, we find Dorothy in the midst of a tumultuous tornado where she has been swept into a foreign place with the only familiar thing by her side, her little dog, Toto. As the film goes on, we find that Dorothy’s main quest is to “find her way back home” and her journey to get there, truly filled with so many unfamiliar things, people, and events.
After so many years in the employment arena, I cannot help but see some overlapping themes between what Dorothy went through and what so many of my candidates and employers have experienced during Covid-19. We are all trying to find “our way home.” Home, to perhaps who we really are.
Coming home is a process we go through our entire life. The “home” I am referring to is in a more metaphorical sense. It relates to that inner peace and internal home of joy and comfort we all are seeking. It may also refer to a place or a position we have never been in, yet it is still home. This can be a time of re-discovery of ourselves and finding that sense of where we belong even if we have never experienced it before. Have you ever traveled somewhere where you immediately felt like this new place was familiar and was home to you? Perhaps we are all finding that place within ourselves that can bring us a greater sense of belonging and comfort. Perhaps it is also like the feeling we might get when crossing that finish line and the joy of satisfaction we feel as that ribbon breaks as we run through.
I do believe there are a variety of themes in the “Wizard of Oz” that may relate to virtue, the importance of friendship, good and evil, self-sufficiency, etc. For the purpose of this article, I want to focus on the value of the journey.
When we focus on those times in our life when things go from “known to unknown,” the lessons we learn are invaluable. My new workbook, Revolutionary Reinvention, takes one by the hand and allows you to have some type of support to gain keen insight and awareness during this journey that may be filled with so much fear, trepidation, and panic for so many. It is a process of getting to that crossing point of meeting our goals and reaching satisfaction and peace within ourselves.
As described in my workbook, “Sometimes our journey to get back home is filled with many roadblocks. If we let our internal determination and compass direct our path, and not let external events affect our journey, we can emerge stronger, happier beings through the process.” That inner compass knows exactly where to go if we just trust the voyage and follow our personal roadmap.
In my first book, Revolutionary Recruiting, the workbook being a companion to that book, I talk about Self-Evaluation and Self-Inventory in a subchapter about “The Tin Man Story.” It goes on to say, “In modern times or days of old, the stories and metaphors come alive and are easily adapted to the experience of human discovery. We are born with gifts, hide them (or have them hidden from us) as children, and spend much of our adult years seeking, uncovering, and rediscovering them. Are we to find that hidden place somewhere over the rainbow” or are we to stay where we are and look within ourselves for the answers? Sometimes we need a tornado like Dorothy experienced in the “Wizard of Oz” to shake us up and force us to go to a place we’ve never been. Losing a job might be the tornado in your life that you’ve experienced. You felt abandoned, angry, rejected, and confused. You didn’t know how to find that Yellow Brick Road that would lead you to the wizard inside of yourself to help you get back home. Home for you might mean that safe haven where you felt you had support and direction. Abraham Maslow, in his Hierarchy of Needs, talks about Self-Actualization where we finally reach the top of the pyramid. I think we strive our whole life to self-actualize, but only perseverance and life experiences allow us to get there. Staying stuck in a safe, easy job, doesn’t advance anyone. If you are trying to make an important change in your life, travel back in your mind to the successes and failures and look at your lessons from along the way. Stop beating yourself up for what you did wrong, or the job that didn’t work out, or the mistakes you’ve made. How many of the successful inventors and entrepreneurs never made a mistake? Quite the contrary. If you read any successful person’s autobiography, you will often find that his failures far surpassed any successes he may have had.
Don’t be afraid to risk. Don’t be afraid to try. You are an amazing creation and you have so much inside of you that wants to get out. If you are feeling stuck, you owe it to yourself to go on a new journey. What you find along the way might surprise you. Have the courage of that Cowardly Lion in the “Wizard of Oz” to be brave and embrace the challenge. “There is no place like home,” Dorothy said. Home for you could be coming home to who you really are. It’s a wonderful place to be. And we all can get there if we follow our own personal Yellow Brick Road, with all its twists and turns. The journey will be worth it! Look what it did for Dorothy.
The “Revolutionary Reinvention Workbook” takes you on this journey with a series of questions that relate to a proven method, the Faremouth Method™, that has worked for many candidates in my consulting process for many years. It is designed to get us in touch with that hidden gift that we were born with. It is an opportunity to connect that puzzle piece to create a better present and future by unlocking that inner door.
As discussed in the workbook,
“The key is to change our mindset and realize that instinct and humanity always knows the way back home and will get us there. No matter what happens (Covid or no Covid) we know our core beliefs will always help us achieve our goals.”
The goal of my new workbook is to help you learn to value and deepen your relationship with who you truly are and what you truly want, and that is the internal compass that we must learn to trust. It will always lead us to find the path home.
Mary Ann Faremouth has been a regular contributor to the USA Daily Post since April of 2020.
