A Place Without Trouble

Auntie Em: Find yourself a place where there isn't any trouble!

Dorothy: Some place where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto?

When I was a little girl, The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie (along with The Sound of Music). In my earliest TV memory, I was in front of our old turn-dial set, with a plate of pizza (a huge treat) watching the Wicked Witch of the West flying around her castle. To this day, that remains one of my most vivid memories. Dorothy's journey, from her home to the land of her dreams and back again, where she finds she really wants to be, is familiar theme in books and movies. The epic journey - the quest to find your heart - to find fulfilment, contentment, love - is in every story, whether it takes center stage or not. But what always got me was that one line: 

Some place where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto?

I wonder, is there a place? It's hard to believe so. Every day some new trouble seems to pop up - the pesky mortgage payment, an unexpected death, a hateful co-worker, losing a friend to a misunderstanding - all these things and more are represented by The Wicked Witch of the West. 

Is Dorothy's quest in vain? Perhaps. But she went forward, she walked down that yellow path because she had no choice but to move onward. Just like all of us, we have no alternative but to set our feet forward, dodge that evil witch and gather good friends and good lessons along the way. And sure, at some point (probably more than once) we'll end up facing the witch in her castle with only a bucket of water for defense, but just like Dorothy, we are always provided with the tools we need to beat down that obstacle. All you have to do is look around and trust yourself. 

At times, like the Scarecrow says: 

Of course I don't know but I think it will get darker before it gets lighter.

Remember though, whether it's green or not, everyone has an Emerald City. You just have to find it. Trouble found Dorothy in the Emerald City, but she also found the very thing she was looking for there. She took the good with the bad and was a better person for it. She found her Happily Ever After. 

On another note, every time I watch the movie, I always wish that somehow Dorothy would have taken the Red Brick Road ... what do you suppose was at the end of that one?