The Wizard of Oz is a classic story. It is about a teenager who got swept away from her home by a fierce tornado and who anxiously wants to find her way back. The story of Dorothy’s travels to find the Wizard, the only person who could show her how to get home, parallels each of our respective and nuanced yellow brick road journeys through this coronavirus pandemic. The 1939 classic movie invites us to consider that we do not have to go on a yellow brick road journey in search of someone else to help us discover the brains, heart, and courage we innately possess. We simply need to accept the notion that the Wizard lies in each of us and can be accessed at any time if we are ready and want to go there.

Dorothy did not start and end her dramatic travels in Kansas. Dorothy’s journey began in her heart during a time in her life when she was overwhelmed by significant chaos, confusion, and challenges, emotionally akin to a vortex of swirling tornado winds. She returned, not to Kansas, but to her heart where she found heightened abilities to think critically, untapped her emotional strength to fuel her through difficult times, and unacknowledged courage to respond to life’s inclement circumstances and psychological storms. 

What will we see and discover when we awaken from the storm and inclement circumstances of coronavirus? Will we feel dazed and confused and wonder where we have landed? What qualities about ourselves will we be able to see differently? Will we discover the treasures hiding in plain sight in the social, familial, community, work, health, and spiritual environments by which we continue to be nourished? What aspects of our lives, both short and longer-term, will we decide are truly important and worth pursuing from here forward? 

 Answers to these questions can only be found in the Emerald city of our mind and heart where our Wizard perpetually resides. We can access our place of solace and comfort if we really want to go there and if we believe that we will arrive at our destination. 

So, when ready, close your eyes and repeat silently to yourself, there’s no place like home!

For more advice from Dr. Parham on how to Tap into your Inner Strength, Download Famer and subscribe to the “NBPA Training Ground”.