On this grey, drizzly, cold October 29 Saturday, it feels like Halloween has already started. Just about exactly a year ago, I wrote about my lack of enthusiasm for Halloween, so I won't go over that old ground. It's just simple -- I am uncomfortable with, almost terrified by, people who pretend to be something they are not, really or symbolically. Masks are scary enough, but then you add in the dark, "evil" stuff and I just can't stand it. On Monday night, I will be childishly hiding under some covers somewhere, reading. Indeed, I may do a lot of reading this entire weekend.
I think it's all been magnified this fall by the election season. It's been like walking through a haunted house of all the worst our democracy could possibly ever offer, demons we didn't even dream were present. I feel beaten up, as if ghouls have indeed come to life in front of my eyes and taken baseball bats in hand.
What's my advice to myself? Abraham-Hicks says it all the time, as do many other spiritual writers, but it is so hard to do when the ghosties and ghoulies surround you -- don't focus on what you don't like! That only makes it grow. Focus on what is beautiful. I've told friends that I have tried to start almost every morning the last few weeks listening to the Bach "St. Anne Fugue" and whether it is that, or a good book, or a funny movie, or beautiful photographs of places you love, or petting someone's kittens, I think it is good advice for this dark moment of the year. I'll find something that makes me smile, and hang on for dear life until November 1.
