The Wizard of Oz and those ruby slippers
The classic adventure of Dorothy leaving Kansas to visit Oz can be a nice reminder of meditation and mindfulness practice. Many of us can easily finish the sentence, “There’s no place like…” But we can use any anchor that we choose, “home” can be our breath, sensations in the body, sounds, and so on.
All the characters in the story have been analyzed and interpreted to have many different symbols, and it works for us here too. We don’t have to identify with anyone in particular, our mind can take any form it likes. Maybe it’s Dorothy craving for adventure and excitement, our mind can take that form in times of boredom. Maybe it’s the Scarecrow and the mind craving intellectual challenge. The Tin Man and his empathy. The Lion has the fear, and of course the Witch is destructive and vengeful. The Wizard is a con man behind the curtain, and the mind can lie just as much as the Wizard.
We can go on and on, but the ruby slippers, which can represent agency, give us a clue to turn back to home, whatever that home is. Practicing mindfulness is taking that trip to somewhere over the rainbow, but then coming back, returning home.