OF RAINBOWS AND RUBY SLIPPERS
(and the paradoxical pursuit of what is innately ours)
Why do so many people often feel that life is so much harder than it should be and not nearly as fulfilling? Because of how we’re programmed. Jonathan reveals the three types of programming that keep us chasing an artificial happiness “somewhere over the rainbow” when everything we seek already lives within us.
In this foundational episode, Jonathan uses the engaging metaphor of Dorothy’s journey to Oz to expose why, for so many people, modern life often feels like an impossible game (Hint: because it is!).
He reveals how three layers of programming — biological, cultural, and psychological — work together to keep us exhausting ourselves seeking “happiness” and external validation when fulfillment is actually ours once we know how to click our heels.
In this episode, listeners discover they’ve been set up to play by rules designed to keep them struggling — wanting, never quite complete. Jonathan introduces you to the Wizard of Awareness and posits conscious decision-making as the pathway home to one’s authentic self — to being whole.
This inaugural episode establishes the entire podcast’s framework: that our decisions write the stories of our lives. It begs the question of who’s actually making those decisions, and asserts that, while each of us must travel our respective, unique Yellow Brick Road, the awareness gained from consciously answering what he calls The Four Essential Questions makes the journey far more gratifying, contributory, and a whole lot less bumpy — for you. For those you love. And for Toto, too!