Category Archives: Life

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Jane Jimenez

Jane Jimenez

September 3, 2004

“It’s not a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It’s far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain…” says Judy Garland.  Oz…the land is magic, a fantasy of turnabout reality, where bricks are yellow, tin men sing, and lions cower in fear.

Born in the stories Frank L. Baum told his sons and their friends, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published May 15, 1900, and became the biggest selling children’s book of the year. In 1939, Hollywood’s golden year, MGM released the movie of Oz where Munchkinland exploded in psychedelic Technicolor.

The film enjoyed modest success in the theaters, but quickly became a cultural legacy after its Judy Garland Ozdebut on television in American homes.  The story is as fresh today as it was seventy five years ago when Judy Garland as Dorothy hurled through the sky in a Kansas tornado.

Strangely similar, radically different, the Land of Oz is both delightful and frightening.  Dorothy is greeted in song and celebration by Munchkins celebrating the death of a terrible witch.  And in a fight for her life, she is terrorized by Nikko, the Winkies, and vicious flying monkeys.  In a battle to survive, Dorothy must separate fact from fiction, real from false, and pull the curtain back to reveal the truth behind it.

Today, caught in our own modern parallel universe, we are engaged in a battle of survival every bit as intense as that of Dorothy.  Ours is a land where the delightful is also frightening, where false is disguised as truth.

Our own battle began as America spun out of the 50s and set a new world in motion in the 1960s, a world most easily pictured in scenes from the free and easy musical fest of Woodstock.  Drugs flowed freely and sex was easy…a world of relaxed virtues guided by a new ethic…if it feels good, do it.

Yellow colored a submarine, and bricks paved Abbey Road.  Like the Land of Oz, psychedelic colors ruled the day, and music fueled passions.  But the end of our story is much more difficult to wrap up than Dorothy’s.  It’s not nearly as simple as throwing a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch and watching her melt.

  • In 1950, there were two STDs; today there are over 25.
  • The two STDs of the 50s were curable; today serious STDs are incurable and fatal.
  • HIV/AIDS was once non-existent; twenty years after the first reported case in 1981, close to one million Americans live with the virus.
  • On television, the Lucy we loved became pregnant after she married Rickie; today the modern Lucy is one of nearly a million unwed teens who will become pregnant this year.
  • Way back when, pregnancies were planned and welcomed; in 2000, 1.3 million pregnancies were aborted.
  • Crooners once sang Love Me Tender; rappers now chant porn star stamina.

These “milestones” of modern life are enough to make us despair.  But the true darkness of today’s world is measured by the innocent face of a child who doesn’t know the world was once a safe and secure place.  We’re not in Kansas anymore.

We know it.  But what about our children?  They have grown up thinking monkeys always flew and psychedelic is a primary color.  Dorothy made it back to Kansas because she had a vision of the world she used to live in.  She knew Kansas existed.

“Oh — what a world — what a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness!?” screamed the dying witch, melting in the puddle of water.  It is possible for today’s girls and boys to do the same in our own parallel world…if we only pull back the curtain on lies from the 60s that have outlived their welcome.

We need to paint a picture for our children of what life looks like when sex is part of a lifelong marriage of mutual respect.  We must restore the honor and respect between sexes that once existed.  And it is no small challenge to pull the curtains back on Hollywood wizards who trade on illusion, destroying the simple treasure of decency once valued by all…in Kansas.

Sex will always be easy, but it is no longer free.  In the midst of an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and broken relationships, the challenge for us is to courageously face and reveal the truth to our children.  Kansas is still a home waiting for us to return.

With the truth in hand, the Good Witch Glinda’s advice to Dorothy works for us as well.  We have always had the answer within us.  Just click our heels three times and turn.  Turn away from our promiscuous ways.  Teach our children sexual abstinence is the expected standard until they marry.  And, most importantly, believe in our children and their ability to succeed.

Kansas has never disappeared.  We can always return…if we set our hearts on it.  Dorothy made it home.  We can, too.

See Archives for past editorials.

 

Unplanned Joy

Jane Jimenez

Jane Jimenez

June 25, 2004

The road to success and happiness is paved with planning…and more planning.  This is the modern mantra of American culture.  If you want to be happy, plan for it.

Tasha’s life was a model of planning.  Born Natasha Danvers in 1977, she is one of Britain’s “brightest Olympic hopes” in track and field, a consistent medalist in hurdles.  As a junior, she was the 1995 European Junior Silver medalist, moving on to sixth place in the World Juniors in Sydney the following year.

In 2001 she took the Gold medal in the 400m hurdles in the World Universities held in Bejing.  On an objective numerical basis, scoring the best British all round hurdling performers, Tasha is ranked third.  Against world hurdlers, she is ranked sixth.

If anyone knows about the planning it requires to be successful, Tasha knows.  Looking ahead to the 2004 Olympics, she told Sporting Life in 2003, “I’ve been able to train hard.  I’m different mentally, more dedicated.  The results are showing now.”

And she knows her training is paying off.  “The way I’m running right now, the times I’m putting down, I think I should be aiming for not just making teams or finals.  What I should be aiming for right now- I’m at the point where I can go in and expect a medal.”

Tasha’s determination and dedication to her goals is the stuff parents and teachers thrill to see.  She is the shining light we hold in front of students to inspire them.  “Here,” we tell our young people, “this is what planning for success looks like.  You can be just like Tasha.  And you can succeed.”

But Tasha has another lesson to teach our young people.  She can teach them one of the most important lessons of planning for success, a lesson about what happens when the best-laid plans take an unexpected turn.

Right in the midst of her intense training schedule, Tasha noticed a change in her body.  “I was in the shape of my life.  I was more focused than ever before….Then things didn’t feel quite right.  I was feeling tired all the time, feeling flat for no reason.”

A trip to the doctor surprised Tasha and her trainer/husband Darrell Smith.  They were facing an unplanned pregnancy.

“The timing could not have been worse” she told reporters.  “If I had run at Athens it would have meant greater financial security, more recognition.  There is nothing negative that can happen when you have a shot at an Olympic medal.”

Like millions of women and couples around the world, Tasha and Darrell faced “The Choice.”  Even the term “unplanned pregnancy” seems to suggest getting rid of the pregnancy and getting back to the plan.

And like millions of women, Tasha is truthful, “I cannot lie, I considered an abortion.  On the one hand you look at the situation and say, ‘I can have a baby and incur more costs, more problems.’ We don’t even have a house yet, we are staying with Darrell’s parents.  And I am the major breadwinner.”

But this is where Tasha can teach us the ability to plan for the unplanned.  Considering her options, she realized the path to happiness is paved with more than plans.  “Even the thought of it [an abortion] depressed me.  I cried thinking about it as I tried to convince myself this is what I should do.”

Tasha is still facing an unplanned pregnancy, but she is happy now.  She looks forward to giving birth in early 2005.

Darrell reminds everyone that her career is bigger than one competition.  “We will definitely prepare for the Commonwealth Games in 2006,” and if things go as planned, they hope to participate in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Tasha’s picture is up on the refrigerator in our house right now, a reminder that some of life’s greatest moments come from planning to accept the unplanned.  A heart that is open to life as it comes is a more certain key for happiness than anyone has dared to admit in the past thirty years.

Tasha is a witness to the unexpected path to happiness.  She has new plans that seem to change daily.  On her website she tells her fans, “It’s six months before I give birth and already baby is dictating the pace.”

One suspects that Tasha will succeed no matter what happens in her life.  She has embraced the magic of unplanned joy.

 

 See Archives for past editorials.