Okay. I’m going to say it.
Halloween is my absolutely least favorite holiday. I really do despise it.
It’s challenging enough for most people to be themselves. Many people already go through the everyday of their lives pretending to be someone they aren’t. I think that’s why Halloween irks me so – they’re already pretending, so now they’re pretending on top of pretending? Which got me thinking…
Why spend the time and effort to be someone or something else for a day? Are you really needing to avoid yourself that much? Do you really need to disguise the Truth of who you are so much that you’re willing to pretend to be someone you’re not?
Or maybe it’s a reverse psychology thing. If you are pretending to be someone you aren’t in the day-to-day of your life, would your Halloween costume be a revelation of the Truth of who you are or who you really perceive yourself to be? Is the costume is the only way you feel comfortable expressing that particular aspect of yourself?
When I look at this in the context of the current sun sign of Scorpio, I find it interesting that this holiday occurs during the Sun’s movement through this sign of great vulnerability and our protection of those vulnerabilities. It’s as if wearing costumes gives people power and courage to express parts of themselves they normally would not express – for better or worse.
Halloween is also an occasion to celebrate fear and horror. Isn’t it interesting that in allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, we must be willing to face our deepest fears in exposing ourselves fully and allowing ourselves to be hurt if we choose to be?
- How many of us hide behind our careers or our work or hobbies because we are too afraid of personally relating to others face to face or one-on-one?
- How many of us buy things to appear financially wealthy when really we barely have enough to get by day-to-day, living well beyond our means?
- How many of us are doing things that we really don’t enjoy doing in order to “be responsible” and/or to “do the right thing”?
- How many of us seem to have the perfect relationships on the outside, yet are deeply unhappy in those relationships on the inside?
- How many of us dress or act a certain way in our everyday lives to create a public image that is not true to who we are privately?
- How many of us are so afraid for people to know everything about us?
Why continue to pretend to be something we’re not when we can actually be who we are?
There is so much in our society that encourages us to be anything and everything that is not who we are. Where is that which encourages us to be who we are? What is encouraging us to be ourselves and claim our inner truths?
What really makes me laugh is the irony that in the midst of all of this pretentiousness, there are the shining examples of people that many of us idolize and look up to. What makes it ironic is that these people often are who they are to us because they were vulnerable enough to risk putting their true selves out there. I think of people like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, etc. (or whomever your personal idols may be if you have any). Many may look to them as idols, yet the only thing they each did that many of us don’t do is allowed themselves to be vulnerable and put themselves at risk of humiliation and failure in order to live their truths and thrive in their lives. They faced their deepest fears and failures to have their greatest successes.
Let’s keep it real. The only difference between you and them is choice. They chose to reveal who they really are and to have themselves be known as their Truths.
People will always be known for their greatest Truths or for their greatest lies being exposed by Truth.
And it’s so much easier to live by Truth! Think about how much energy and how many resources you use on a daily basis trying to think of ways to keep up appearances! Wouldn’t it be great if you could just focus all of that on what you really want to be and do in your life instead of what you think you need to be and do to get the life you want from others?
So this Halloween, I invite you to strip yourself down naked. That’s right – whether it’s mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or (dare I say) physically. Instead of putting some costume on to cover up your truth, I challenge you to strip something away – to expose yourself. Instead of hiding behind a façade, I challenge you to step out into the spotlight and reveal something about yourself that you wouldn’t normally reveal. Instead of staying silent, I challenge you to say something that it takes real courage for you to say.
You may find that it’s not nearly as scary as you perceive it to be. In fact, it may just change your life.
Thanks for reading and sharing. Until next week…
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
