"Lupe," I said, getting right down to the nub of the thing, "I'm opening the gate and stepping out onto the yellow brick road." I expected the movie references to grab her attention and I was right.
"Oh, good for you", she said. "Remember to get in touch with your personal mythology."
"What are you talking about, you little geezer," I said. "What's mythology got to do with it?"
"Don't you remember when we talked about how everyone is the hero of their own life story? You should pay better attention," she said. "Myths exist because stories are the way humans understand life. You, for instance, in opening the gate and starting your journey are like one of the knights of the Round Table beginning a grail quest. You're looking for your personal holy grail."
"Excuse me," I said, not a little miffed at the suggestion that I was playing make-believe. "I'm not talking about a fairy tale. This is real life that I'm concerned with--my life."
Without waiting for her response, I said, "I'll be in touch later." With that said, I left her presence and wandered off looking for a more sympathetic ear.
Wandering brought me into Ms. Wonder's office. I don't know what she actually does there but I imagine it to be the place where she researches universal philosophical ideas. She seems to know everything. I suppose you could say that she plans her wonders there.
"Whoa," she said. "You look like you've lost your best friend."
"Who?" I said.
"If you mean which friend you lost, I haven't the slightest. It's just an expression."
"I just left Lupe," I said, ignoring the tangent expression she'd introduced, "and you'll never guess what she said about my yellow brick road journey."
"Let me guess," she said. "She probably brought up the mythology of the individual."
"How did you know that?" I asked. "And it's personal mythology."
"Oh, that's easy," she said. "Lupe relates everything to personal mythology. It's her thing."
"Why didn't I know that?"
"That's easy too--you don't pay attention."
There it was again--another reference to my attention deficit--and I didn't like it. But it's not germane to the subject at hand and with not a little effort I let it go.
"I wonder how she came up with such a loopy idea?", I said.
"Probably because it is in every sense a truly Lupe idea."
"At any other time I'd laugh, but my plan to find meaning in my life is serious business. It is for me. Sometimes. But it seems no one else feels the same."
"Then everything is working out perfectly," she said. "Lupe developed her ideas of personal mythology, or the mythology of the individual, as the result of looking for meaning in her childhood past life memories."
"Lupe has past life memories?"
"Wow, you don't pay attention, do you?"
I bit my tongue if you understand the expression.
"You should ask her about it," she said. "Do it now is my suggestion. I'm sure it'll help with your stroll down the yellow brick road."
I gave her a look and I meant it to sting.
"Trust me," she said.
Back in the presence of the little shrimp, I asked her to tell me about her childhood experiences with reincarnation or whatever.
"You really came to hear about your personal mythology, didn't you?"
"Well, yes, to be honest, I am curious to hear what you have to say, but only if it has a bearing on my quest for Emerald City."
"All you need to know, at least for now," she said, "is that when King Arthur's knights began a grail quest, they were told that after entering the Enchanted Forest, they should avoid the temptation to follow any paths they might find."
"Seems silly to me," I said. "Why not take advantage of someone else's work? Standing on the shoulders of those who came before so to speak."
"Whenever a knight of the Grail tried to follow a path made by someone else," she said, "they became lost. Any path you find is made by and for someone else. Each of us has to find our own way--make our own path. Nobody can give you a mythology. The images that mean something to you, come to you in your dreams or in your actions. But you'll not understand them when they come to you. Only later when you can put them into context will their meaning and importance become clear."
"These are deep waters, Lupe."
I paused, floating in those deep waters, and Lupe remained silent allowing me uninterrupted time to get my bearings.
"So what you're saying is that I have to find my own personal path."
"What I'm saying is that you have to make your path, not find it," she said.
I didn't like it. "Disappointing," I said.
""True since the beginning of time," she said.