Halloween Musings

I love Halloween.  I have always loved Halloween.  I think it is so much fun to dress as someone else for the night.  I remember as a child putting so much time and thought into picking just the right costume.  For several years, I was a princess.  The year before my mother and father divorced, I remember that my daddy made a crown and scepter for me, and I was so proud. I think I may have even had wings, and was thus, a fairy princess, which was even better.

When I was a preteen and teenager, I spent a number of years being a vampire.  Then as a mom, I have found myself dressing as a witch over and over, mostly because I could do so quickly after I got my wiggling, excited kids dressed and their faces painted.  I actually love doing elaborate makeup.  When I was in college I was so into the special effects makeup that my theatre makeup professor told me that I was doomed to have children whose idea of a great costume was a sheet with eyeholes.  So far, that hasn’t been far off the mark.  Hannah rarely lets me go all out with her face, but, I digress.

The thrill of Halloween for me is being someone other than, well, me.  Of late, I have given that a lot of thought.  Maybe the reality is that I am only bored with being myself because I am too self-focused.  What if I were to turn my attention outward?  What if I learned to live my life centered on loving my Creator and my fellow children of God? What if my attention shifted from whether or not my clothes are stylish to clothing the needy?  What if I spent less time worrying about whether I found my dinner to be a scintillating experience, and worked to feed the poor?  What if I stopped fretting about whether or not people liked me and instead spent time talking to those who are lonely and or who need a shoulder?

Still, I think I will always love a good costume.