The Way of Oz: A Guide to Wisdom, Heart, and Courage

20: Humility: An Integrated Perspective

After half a lifetime stumbling through the Gilded Age and half the vocations a man could try, [Baum] had found his fortune within himself, in the humble gift of storytelling . Perhaps he even thought of himself as the Wizard, for as the saga of Oz extended itself through book after book, the Wizard who began as a Prince of Humbug became a genuine wizard. Frank Joslyn Baum and Russell P. MacFall, from To Please a Child: A Biography of L. Frank Baum, Royal Historian of Oz (1961) Think about the dynamics of Frank Baum’s relationship with producer Frederick Hamlin and director Julian Mitchell, during the revision of the stage play of The Wizard of Oz. As author Michael O. Riley said, “Little was left of the original plot [which] became like a thin thread holding various disparate and shifting elements together.” Although we might imagine how Baum would have been humiliated by such radical changes to his work, he probably realized that the play wouldn’t have become the smash success it was without the Hamlin/Mitchell metamorphosis. It’s tempting to speculate that this major transformation of his play might have caused Baum to recall the embarrassing time he was duped by the theater troupe that ran off 20 Humility: An Integrated Perspective The Way of Oz and Humility.........................194 with his expensive costumes under the guise of borrowing them. We can only imagine how deflating this was to the naive eighteen-year-old Baum. But what we know of Frank Baum’s temperament suggests that he rarely lost his sense of optimism. We have seen that he never let his failures deter him from renewed creative efforts, from the love of his family and friends, and from service to others. His biographers have documented many other humbling experiences in Frank Baum’s life: •฀The฀loss฀of฀his฀dry-goods฀store฀(Baum’s฀Bazaar)฀and฀his฀newspaper฀publishing enterprise in Aberdeen, South Dakota, between 1888 and 1891 •฀Harsh฀critical฀reviews฀of฀several฀of฀his฀works •฀The฀demise฀of฀the฀baseball฀team฀(Hub฀City฀Nine)฀he฀started฀with฀several฀ other business leaders in Aberdeen •฀The฀failure฀of฀his฀business฀ventures฀in฀the฀theater฀and฀film฀industries,฀particularly the abject failure of his second theater production—The Woggle-Bug •฀His฀lifelong฀coronary฀heart฀disease Although some of Baum’s failures were due to other people or fate, these were undoubtedly humbling experiences to someone who has been characterized as a thoughtful and reflective individual. But he seems to have made use of his failures and humbling experiences to strengthen his resolve to succeed, which in turn led him to renewed creativity and happiness. Humility Defined and Enlarged Humility can be defined as “a self-reflected modest appraisal and expression of one’s skills, accomplishments or contributions, and place in the world.” In many religions, humility requires an acknowledgment of a divine being. Outside any particular creed, humility is part of our universal experience because of these considerations: •฀Human฀beings’฀finite฀and฀short฀lives฀are฀mere฀nanoseconds฀relative฀to฀the฀ age of the universe. •฀All฀human฀beings฀have฀frailties฀and฀foibles. •฀Earth฀is฀relatively฀insignificant—a฀small฀planet฀in฀a฀small฀galaxy฀in฀a฀remote฀ place in the universe. 195.........................Humility: An Integrated Per