Have You Ever Felt Like Dorothy?

Perhaps the world around you has changed. Perhaps the people you once relied on are no longer there as they once were or perhaps nothing has changed on the outside, yet something within you feels different.

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy begins her journey wanting one thing: to return home.

Along the way, she meets three companions who believe they are missing something essential. The Scarecrow longs for a brain, the Tin Man for a heart and the Lion for courage.

Each believes someone somewhere has the power to give them what they lack. Yet as their journey unfolds, something interesting happens.

The Scarecrow demonstrates wisdom. The Tin Man shows compassion. The Lion acts courageously, even while feeling afraid. What they struggle to recognise in themselves becomes visible through their experiences and relationships with others.

Perhaps this is where Dorothy's story becomes our own. How often do we look to others to tell us whether we are capable, worthy, strong or enough? How often do we mistake uncertainty for inadequacy, fear for weakness or emotional vulnerability for a lack of strength?

Sometimes, the very qualities we believe we lack are already present in the ways we navigate life's challenges. We simply struggle to recognise them but Dorothy's journey also reminds us of something else.

She did not travel alone. Her companions did not remove her difficulties or provide all the answers. They walked alongside her, each bringing their own vulnerabilities, hopes and strengths.

Perhaps that is what meaningful relationships can offer us. Not someone who tells us who we should become, but someone who creates enough safety for us to discover more of who we already are.

Then there is the question of home. For Dorothy, home is a place she longs to return to. For some of us, however, home may not have been a place of comfort or safety. Returning may carry complicated feelings rather than reassurance.

Perhaps finding our way home is not always about going back. Sometimes it is about discovering what safety feels like. Learning where we belong. Recognising which relationships allow us to be ourselves. Or slowly building a sense of security that we may never have experienced before.

Dorothy's journey did not make her difficulties disappear. But it gave her experiences through which she could recognise what mattered to her. Maybe our own journeys are not always about finding the answers we thought we needed. Maybe they are also about noticing what we have learned, what we have carried and what we are beginning to understand about ourselves.

So, have you ever felt like Dorothy?

And if you have, perhaps the question is not simply where you are trying to get to. Perhaps it is also what you are discovering about yourself along the way.