What hurt me so much with the Black Swan, was that to become great, she had to sacrifice, as you said it, her sense of reality. Why do the two have to live on such opposite planes? Does being true to yourself always mean conflicting with the rest of the world?  In the Wizard of Oz, only after their long journey of yearning, the foursome realized they had inside of them what they were looking for all along.  Besides, the only way we get to know ourselves, is by testing the waters. If there were no external stressors, no societal obligations, no survival necessities, would we be the PUREST version of ourselves?  Or, is the purest version of ourselves exactly who we are under the EXTREME stress?

What if you could solve a massive problem, but to get to a position to solve it, you had to carefully tailor who you are. It is not really denying yourself but manipulating the world around you so that you can put yourself in a position to shine.  I guess if we’re like the tin man and the scarecrow, we better enjoy the journey, because that “shine” might be fool’s gold.