Imagine yourself wandering amidst a wild expanse of unchartered land when you come upon a small trickle of water making its way through a mostly dry river bed. It’s barely enough to wet your whistle, certainly not enough to sustain your life. Feeling dehydrated, you follow the trickle upstream until you come to a great wall. The trickle ends there. Or so it seems.
An imaginative picture perhaps, but not so far off from the truth of most of us wandering the planet today. We see the wall, turn our backs to it, and look for others who might have abundant water to give us.
The trouble is, those others are looking for water from us. And we all are dying of thirst.
We don’t even consider that the wall is a dam, holding back an entire reservoir of life giving water. A small trickle gets through a crack in the wall, but that is all. Even if we knew what was on the other side, how would we release the water?
The truth is, you are not only the wanderer desperately seeking water in an almost dry riverbed. You are the dam. And most importantly, you are the river itself. You have come to believe you are separate from the water, separate from life itself. Your thirst tells you you will die without this water. If only you knew this uncomfortable thirst was really Life calling you back to yourself. Calling you to release the water so that you can delight in a free flowing river, allowing it to carry you to the ocean of your true being.
You may not remember, but you built that dam a long time ago. You built it to control the flow of your life force, in hopes that it would defend against feeling the pain of your unmet childhood needs. There may be some pain behind that dam, but it also stores your aliveness. Your unrealized gifts and hidden talents. Your connection to spirit and your own inner wisdom. Behind that dam is your Real Self.
To take dynamite to the dam would cause a destructive flood, drowning you in its wake. But you can learn to open the outlet valves and gradually let out more and more water, allowing it to freely flow at a pace that is manageable for you.
The key to opening these valves requires an inward journey to bring the unconscious to consciousness, to identify and feel the pain of your unmet childhood needs.
What did you need that was not met properly as a child? A need for safety? Emotional warmth and affection? Physical contact and connection? Validation and acknowledgement? These are real needs for a child, necessary ingredients for healthy development.
As an adult, are you aware of how you are still trying to meet those childhood needs today, in your current relationships? Or perhaps you have given up on getting your needs met altogether. When we deny our needs or depend on others to “give it to us,” the only person who can truly meet those needs is ignoring them. (That would be you).
As sad as it was that those needs weren’t met in childhood, getting from someone else today what you needed back then won’t satiate you, because your adult needs aren’t the same as your childhood needs. Our task today is to grieve what we didn’t get, and give to ourselves what our inner child is clamoring for.
As we take responsibility for meeting the pain of our unmet childhood needs, we then become capable of meeting our adult needs. So what might our adult needs be?
We need creative self-expression, to develop spiritually, to give mature love, and to fulfill a task that is uniquely ours on this earth. We need to experience pleasure, joy, and fulfillment. We need to live from our Real Self.
Isn’t it time to let the water flow again?
Ironically enough, it is a classic childhood story that can offer us clues to what we need as adults to manifest an awesome, joyful life. If this is something you have been thirsting for, I’ve created a new online course entitled, Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Your Journey Home to the Real Self. Throughout this eight week adventure, we will explore the mystical messages of the beloved story “The Wizard of Oz” as seen through the lens of the Pathwork teachings.
On the journey back to Oz, we’ll travel into the unconscious, and meet and reclaim the parts of ourselves that can offer us the keys to understanding what separates us from knowing and living from our Real Self. We’ll examine our distortions, our defenses, and the childhood needs that form the foundation of behavior patterns that are no longer serving us.
In addition to the rich symbolism of the Wizard of Oz and the profound wisdom of the Pathwork teachings, you’ll benefit from the support of a group of kindred spirits, and through the practice of listening to your own inner guidance. I would be honored to walk with you as you take the next step on the one journey that matters most in this lifetime, the journey home to the Real Self.
Register today and take advantage of the special early bird discount!
