There's no place like your ruby red slippers
Anyone who has travelled a lot or spent much time on the road might relate when I say that home is where you are when you're not moving.
A hostel for the night, a friend's sofa, someone's parent's cabin. They quickly become home. They are where you sleep and where your bag waits for you. It's where you can relax again. It's where you have defined safety and comfort.
Sometimes, I make home so small it is only the space around me, the passport under layers of clothes, the photos in my wallet, the charm round my neck.
As a woman it's harder sometimes to initially extend comfort to places outside the home. There are countries where the cafes are a man's domain, not suitable for long coffee sipping, cat stroking, journal writing. Even my local pubs in suburban Helsinki are olut ravintolas with blinking neon barely hiding under-employed men in outdate tracksuits, drinking and pissing Upcider while shouting at TV's, each other, people passing by.
It has been hard this month to let my hair down in comfort. I have stayed home too much and my comfort zone has become an institution.
But today, I broke free of the shackles. I remembered the ruby red slippers.
Not quite sparkling like Dorothy's and more cheap hooker cherry than ruby red. But the power was the same. You can have your brand name Manalos and Jimmy Choos. After an era of wearing boots and an eternity that turned my home to a prison, a pair of cheap red kitten heels took me to another level.
The music went on, the volume went up, the laptop complained. I brushed my hair, put on lipstick, and even smiled.
My ruby red slippers and I danced and dreamed. We were sophisticated down Villefranche sur Mer's side streets, we were kicked off in Hyde Park one hot summer's day, we were arse kicking in business presentations, we were in hand along a Turkish beach, we were turning heads at dinner.
I may be an uncalculable length away from family, a time zone away from friends and 7 hours away from the lively Mediterranean lifestyle I love, but in my ruby red slippers, I'm home.
And we all know, there's no place like home.
A hostel for the night, a friend's sofa, someone's parent's cabin. They quickly become home. They are where you sleep and where your bag waits for you. It's where you can relax again. It's where you have defined safety and comfort.
Sometimes, I make home so small it is only the space around me, the passport under layers of clothes, the photos in my wallet, the charm round my neck.
As a woman it's harder sometimes to initially extend comfort to places outside the home. There are countries where the cafes are a man's domain, not suitable for long coffee sipping, cat stroking, journal writing. Even my local pubs in suburban Helsinki are olut ravintolas with blinking neon barely hiding under-employed men in outdate tracksuits, drinking and pissing Upcider while shouting at TV's, each other, people passing by.
It has been hard this month to let my hair down in comfort. I have stayed home too much and my comfort zone has become an institution.
But today, I broke free of the shackles. I remembered the ruby red slippers.
Not quite sparkling like Dorothy's and more cheap hooker cherry than ruby red. But the power was the same. You can have your brand name Manalos and Jimmy Choos. After an era of wearing boots and an eternity that turned my home to a prison, a pair of cheap red kitten heels took me to another level.
The music went on, the volume went up, the laptop complained. I brushed my hair, put on lipstick, and even smiled.
My ruby red slippers and I danced and dreamed. We were sophisticated down Villefranche sur Mer's side streets, we were kicked off in Hyde Park one hot summer's day, we were arse kicking in business presentations, we were in hand along a Turkish beach, we were turning heads at dinner.
I may be an uncalculable length away from family, a time zone away from friends and 7 hours away from the lively Mediterranean lifestyle I love, but in my ruby red slippers, I'm home.
And we all know, there's no place like home.
posted by Rowena at 2:37 am
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