You had the power all along, my dear

When Glinda the Good Witch gently reminds Dorothy, "You had the power all along, my dear," it lands with surprising weight for a line from "children’s film" It’s not just a moment of cinematic resolution, it’s a truth many of us spend years, sometimes lifetimes, trying to grasp.

We are often taught to seek answers outside ourselves. Authority, validation, direction, these are things we’re told to find in experts, institutions or well-worn paths.

Like Dorothy, we go on long, uncertain journeys thinking someone else holds the key. We follow yellow brick roads paved with expectations, hoping that somewhere along the way, we’ll be told who we are and what we’re capable of.

But what if the journey isn’t about finding something new and realising what we already hold?

Philosophically, this idea echoes across cultures and eras, from the ancient Greek notion of self-knowledge to Eastern philosophies that speak of awakening or inner truth. In anthropology and social thought, we can see how power has often been externalised or withheld, especially from those whose voices were historically silenced.

Recognising your own power can be confronting. It means accepting both responsibility and agency. It means trusting your instincts, owning your story and letting go of the belief that someone else knows better.

Dorothy had to take the long way around to learn that. Many of us do. But maybe that’s the point, not that the power was missing, but that it was always waiting to be claimed.

What would change if you believed you already had it?