Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

My favorite line from the Wizard of Oz because it seems to have many meanings which change with time, point of view, life experiences. Outside of the movie, beyond the loss of innocence and the courage to see the reality that lies past the smoke, mirrors and yellow brick road, the line always held more meaning for me in Real Life™.  Or perhaps I have just attached more meaning to the line over time, much like the way we all attach meaning to ourselves.

At times I've felt like the people on the outside of the curtain. Sometimes you know there is a curtain, sometimes your oblivious to its existence. If you know there is a curtain and there is no obvious way to see behind it, you may fantasize about what goes on in this unseen world all the while knowing that whatever you makeup to fill this void of unknowing won't be close to the truth. You may also think that unseen world behind the curtain must be better then the world I inhabit...the grass always being greener.

Most of the time in my life however, I have felt like the wizard.

Not the all-powerful wizard, but the much diminished human being that hides behind the curtain. Pulling levers. Making smoke. Adjusting mirrors. Sometimes there are more curtains then one can count.

But lets not forget what the much diminished human did worked.
Behind the disguise of the all-powerful wizard was a wizard.

The truth is we are all wizards. At times all-powerful, and at other times Just Human™.
We are all people outside of some curtains.
We are also people behind some curtains as well.

Art is a way for me to bypass all curtains.
A conduit from one diminished human being to others.

From one wizard to another...