The Curtain and the Courage

For so many of us, life feels like a long walk down the Yellow Brick Road. We’re dodging the witches, avoiding the flying monkeys, and trying not to get hit by whatever those angry trees are throwing at us. It’s a journey filled with challenges, distractions, and fears. Yet, through it all, we keep moving forward because we believe there’s something better waiting for us—something we’ve been told is just behind the next corner, over the next hill.

But here’s the truth: We’re told to focus on the road ahead, to follow the path laid out before us, while behind the curtain, the system is pulling its levers and turning its gears. The man behind the curtain tells us we’re free, that we’re making choices, that the democracy we live in is working as it should. But is it?

We’ve all been sold the story of Oz—a shining city, a land of opportunity, a promise that if we just keep walking, keep working, we’ll find what we’re looking for. But behind the glimmering façade is a system built to sustain itself, not us. It’s a system that asks us to ignore the man behind the curtain while we fight among ourselves over the scraps it throws our way.

And then there’s Dorothy.

Dorothy isn’t just a character in a story—she’s us. She’s the everyman, the everywoman, the everyday person who looks around and says, “Wait a minute. Something isn’t right here.” Dorothy doesn’t buy the illusion. She pulls back the curtain. She sees the truth. And in doing so, she finds the courage to confront it—not for herself, but for everyone she’s traveled with.

Because that’s the thing about Dorothy. She could have stopped and stayed in the Emerald City. She could have been content with the shiny distractions, with the comforts of ignorance. But she didn’t. Dorothy understood that getting to Oz wasn’t the end of the journey; it was the beginning of a bigger fight. She understood that pulling back the curtain wasn’t enough—you have to have the courage to change what’s behind it.

But here’s the part we often overlook: When Dorothy pulled back the curtain, the wizard didn’t fight her. He didn’t resist the truth. Instead, he joined her. He helped her finish her journey. He didn’t stay behind the illusion—he became part of the solution.

That’s where we are today.

We’re on that road, surrounded by witches and flying monkeys and angry trees, all trying to stop us from pulling back the curtain. But the truth is, we’re all Dorothy. We all have the ability to see through the illusion, to demand better, to take the journey not just for ourselves, but for everyone traveling beside us.

And just like in Oz, we might find that even those who once stood behind the curtain—the ones who benefited most from the system as it is—might eventually join us. When the truth is undeniable, when the courage to act is greater than the fear of change, even the “wizards” among us might step forward and say, “Let’s finish this journey together.”

So let’s stop ignoring the man behind the curtain. Let’s stop walking the Yellow Brick Road as though it’s the only path. Let’s be Dorothy. Let’s pull back the curtain, confront what’s there, and rewrite the story. Not for Oz. Not for the system. But for us.