Out of That Doubt

08.31.21 | Touch A Heart Tuesday | Inspired by The Tin Man & The Wizard of Oz

Watching Wicked has been messing with my head in the best way. Same story I’ve known forever, but suddenly I’m noticing things I never questioned before. It made me wonder how many stories I’ve been telling myself on autopilot, just because they’ve always been there.

I kept thinking about Oz. How we recognize everyone instantly by what they’re wearing. Dorothy’s blue dress and red shoes. Tin Man in silver. Scarecrow in patches. Lion with the big mane. We clock the costume before we ever get to the point. And yet, that story was never really about what they didn’t have. It was about how long they believed they didn’t.

Which is probably why Dorothy made me think of Maisie.

Blue dress. Red beret. Always ready visit her pen pals. She isn’t trying to fix herself or figure herself out. Maisie is just moving through the world as herself. Of course, her suitcase is a bit wobbly, but she’s perfectly fine with it.

OOTD finally flipped for me then. Not outfit of the day. But Out of That Doubt. Less about what you put on, more about what you let go of.

Back when I was celebrating random holidays for Everyday Sillybrations, I often pulled inspiration from pop culture, and Wizard of Oz was one of my favorites. For Touch A Heart Day, I wore a silver sequined dress and a felt hat, holding a plastic heart I kept in a tote that still smelled faintly like MY Toto, my Cairn Terrier (or Terror, as I liked to joke). I remembered dressing him and my other dogs Lex, Bauer, and Mattie as Oz characters years ago, and it made me grin at the little worlds I’d created. Holding that heart against my chest, pretending to be The Tin Man, I realized what it felt like to show up for myself, just as I was. That tiny act, from outfit to prop to memory, was enough.

Maybe that’s what Wicked is really doing. Inviting us to rethink a story we assumed was finished. And maybe No Place Like Home isn’t about a place at all. Maybe it’s about noticing that the heart you’ve been carrying all along—in the little acts, playful gestures, and the worlds you create for yourself—was always enough.

Right here. As is. No red shoes required.