The Wizard Of Oz as a Sacred Roadmap for Learning & Growth

There are good stories, stories intimate with life. They show us how to journey into our depths - retrieve our wholeness - and return. They are magical compasses. No matter where we are, in space, or in time, they know the way. They help us realize our most sacred journey - that of coming home. Home to ourselves -  home to our wholeness, purpose, and meaning.There are so many of them - stretching around the world. It doesn’t matter which one you choose, as long as it has meaning for you.  The story I’m going to unfold today is the Wizard of Oz. I didn't choose this story…it chose me.  It chose me when my dear friend Kristine died of cancer. She and I were very close during the last year of her life, partly due to my own illness at the time.We spent hours on the phone discussing the nuances of life, death, regret, and hope. I still consider it a miracle that I was able to hold Kristine as she released her last breath, with my daughter at my side. I am honored to have done so.A few days after Kristine’s passing, I was offered a gift from her family…Kristine’s favorite pair of colorful clogs. I immediately slipped them on my feet - and suddenly felt like Dorothy. I stared down at the clogs and knew in my heart that these shoes were magical - I knew they would lead me, guide me, protect me, walk me home.I heard them whisper…There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.This is when I knew The Wizard of Oz was my roadmap. And not only my roadmap, it was my lifeline. :::::::::Before I end, I want to read the signposts again. They sum up the journey of life.Welcome to the unexplainable, the mysterious, and the bizarre. Keep walking.Guidance & protection are always with you. Keep walking.Dangling carrots are essential. Chase them down.  A gilded cage is still a cage. Be kind to everyone. We are all children…walking each other home.Be aware, and build a healthy mind.Learn to feel.  Learn to crack the armor. Believe in yourself. Be home.:::Thomas HueblThe Disobedience of the Daughter of the SunWomen Who Run With The WolvesStealing Benefacios RosesThe Hero with a Thousand Faces:::Music by:JuliusH from PixabayMT_NeoSoul_93 from Pixabay