Happy Halloween!
Have you scared anyone yet today? Have you bought the candy…put up any decorations? Snuck some candy?
Our son Miguel was laid low for two days with a stomach bug. Apparently it’s been making the rounds at school.
However, he made a miraculous recovery this morning and soldiered off to school, claiming “I feel better, Mommy”. I’m wondering whether his recovery and willingness to go to school has anything to do with the fact that tonight is Halloween?
Hmmm…..maybe I’m being too cynical.
I remember how much fun my brother, friends and I used to have on Halloween when we were kids. Donning the costume….racing from house to house….checking on our loot after we got home to see who got the most – and the best – candy.
I’ve always enjoyed horror films too. Halloween is a great excuse to bust out the old classics, as well as the newer classics, for some extended viewing.
Today, of course, Halloween has become a major holiday.
Some of our neighbors really go all out with decorations and lights. They spend as much time decorating for Halloween as they do for Christmas.
What’s the reason behind this Halloween fervor?
I think, in part, it’s because Halloween allows you to relive your childhood, and simply have fun and enjoy something. And you should never underestimate the importance of having fun.
All those “ghosts”, “goblins” and “zombies” cavorting about this time of year sure seem to have fun.
They’re not stressing about work, or mortgage payments, or long commutes.
Oh sure, they’re dead, or perhaps undead…but that doesn’t seem to get in the way of their having a good time.
It can be a challenge to work some simple “Have Fun” moments into your life.
Everyone is so busy, the days fly by and you never seem to get to the end of your to-do list.
This “busyness” crowds out the leisure time required for important things, like reading and study, meditating or praying, playing, creating. It crowds out your dreams, your ability to imagine life in the future as you would wish it to be.
It seems to me like we have embraced a modern equivalent of slavery. What an irony! We have more labor-saving options that ever…yet we place a premium on multi-tasking, being on the run, riveted to our electronic gadgets, not experiencing or enjoying the day as it goes flying by.
Historian Thomas Cahill has written about the connection between freedom and the Sabbath – God’s command to “rest on the seventh day”. Even if you are not a religious type, you can still benefit mightily from the practice of taking off one day a week and resting, re-creating, playing, thinking.
As Cahill puts it, “Leisure is the necessary ground of creativity, and [we as] free people are free to imitate the creativity of God.”
You need to take at least a few minutes for yourself, each and every day. Whether it’s to meditate, exercise, or read a good book…get together with a good friend and enjoy a few laughs…play with your kids or pets….or simply to sit quietly and breathe deeply, you’ll find this time to be invaluable.
If you feel like you are giving, giving, giving all day – giving to your job, giving to your family, giving to the world – giving some time to yourself will help refresh and replenish you.
Kicking loose and having some fun should be part of your “me time” too.
So enjoy your Halloween. Release your inner child. And don’t let any ghosts, goblins or zombies get ya.
You Can Do It!
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Copyright, Karen Van Ness, 2013
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