RUBY SLIPPERS
RUBY SLIPPERS
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August 11, 2020
I can’t explain why I felt the need to look up The Wizard of Oz this morning, but I did. An hour or so later, I stepped outside to take my dog for a walk and spotted this pair of ruby slippers next door. Coincidences like this happen to me all the time. Some are seemingly insignificant, but this one really hit home.
January 28, 2024
The organizer in me will always find something to sort. Never feeling settled until things fall into place. This is why I still think about the pair of ruby slippers on my neighbor’s stoop. They felt out of place and exactly where they needed to be on August 11, 2020. I had just thought about The Wizard of Oz minutes before and felt it was worth investigating before taking my dog for his morning walk. So, seeing them next door was a bit like stepping into the land of Oz. People put out stuff all the time and I discard them from memory as well. But, this remained an unsolved mystery filed away until today. It came up when I sorted digital photos a few days ago and tried to make sense of it again. And yesterday, when I saw a behind the scenes photo of Judy Garland as Dorothy on Facebook. It was interesting to me, but not worth sharing with anyone. Then this morning, I wondered if my questions would be answered somehow if I Googled “ruby red slippers.” I definitely did not expect to find several sources reporting the news of a man who stole a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland. It took place nearly twenty years ago, but the man is being sentenced tomorrow. Thought this was more news worthy.
May 25, 2024
I choose to stay home on holiday weekends because the city is noticeably quieter. But, I’ve never seen it vacated as it was in twenty-twenty. My desire to leave the city came long before the pandemic and plans to make a move were placed months in advance. For reasons unbeknownst to me then, I remained where I was. Heeding the advice of drastic times call for drastic measures, I did something different. I made peace with my situation. It was a departure from the action-oriented person I once was. Staying put and believing that our wishes are already granted required more effort than I imagined. And, seeing everything from a different angle required letting go of some ego. Experience taught me that I hadn’t always considered all the possibilities and left me open to the idea that they could be presented somehow. It took a series of seemingly strange events for me to reflect and gain perspective that was previously hidden from view. This new vantage point revealed that I was never led astray. The orchid helped me see beneath the surface and trust. Mother Mary reminded me to let it be and literal signs on the street, like: “BELIEVE IN YOUR IDEAS” and “DREAM UNTIL IT’S YOUR REALITY” brought back hope. It sounds obvious to say that the unexpected happened when I did the unexpected. Yet, that’s exactly how it works. I’ve done it in the past and called it luck. When I don’t want to leave things up to chance, I lessen exposure to others, kick up contrast, and crop out what doesn’t matter. Only then can I see things more clearly and hear my own thoughts. It showed me the hero’s journey in my own life through the stories and songs that caught my attention. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I had to step into someone else’s shoes to learn it myself.
August 26, 2024
Camouflaged along the sides of Jeffrey Gibson’s colorful curtains for the New York City Ballet were the words: THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH. They were just part of the scenery then. Taking center stage only when I heard them in a podcast three days later. The words beckoned me to ponder its meaning that morning because I saw The Wizard of Oz Moving truck. The blog, “Leaving Oz,” provided answers. Forcing me to face my fixation with the ruby slippers. Eventually helping me make sense of my subconscious; shining a light on the things that are meant to be seen. What took me years to uncover, ChatGPT did within seconds. I fed it my birth chart, in order to apply the wisdom of astrology, as well as some background information and writing samples. Through this lens, I received answers that mirrored my thoughts. The older, wiser version of me. Curious to know where I am headed, I asked it to write my story. Felt like I was following a script long before this prompt.
Read the next chapter by AI here.
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