Courage. Have you got it?

Courage! What makes a King out of a slave?
Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave?
Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky dusk?
What makes the muskrat guard his musk?
Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder?
Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder?
Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot?
What have they got that I ain’t got?
All Four-(i.e Dorthy, The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow and the Tin Man) Courage!
Lion-Then you can say that again!

I’ve been thinking about vulnerability, exposure, the courage to follow ones convictions, and how to balance it all in ones day/life. A year or so ago, I was once powerfully drawn  to The Wizard of Oz, the story, the movie, the original illustrations, and the message. Today, I found a very interesting article from Smithsonian.com called Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain: The author of The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, traveled many paths before he found his Yellow Brick Road.

It seems that Frank was a man who had many trails and it was not all smooth sailing. He wrote The Wizard of Oz “in the spring of 1898, on scraps of ragged paper…” He was 40. The book was published in 1900 and “Baum became not only the best-selling children’s book author in the country, but also the founder of a genre…”  For me there is something very encouraging and heartfelt in those facts. Clearly he followed his own creativity and imagination. He had the perseverance to follow his conviction to write it all down and it obviously turned out wonderfully.  He was a man of courage as best I can tell. The article states “With The Wizard of Oz, the power of self-reliance was colorfully illustrated.” … Self-reliance, heart, brains and courage is still a good mix for modern life. I will now go gather my courage and step forward. And you?

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/frank-baum-the-man-behind-the-curtain-32476330/#3r7pxi3SpjxpY5jA.99