Halloween & Finding Your Spirit
Image Credit: Upsplash
This Halloween, I will be handing out candy and managing the dogs from going berserk over the doorbell. I will enjoy observing the costumes, as well as the way trick or treaters choose their treats. You can tell a lot about someone from Halloween behavior.
Some kids are just in it for the candy. You can see the twinkle in their eyes and almost see salivation begin in anticipation of feasting on their treats! Then there are those whose priority is the Halloween party. They are all about the ready-to-go theme and ambiance. Socially connecting is their jam. Others enjoy every bit of their costume and playing a persona. My grade school Principal, Ms. Alford, loved Halloween and always had a fantastic costume. One year she was Miss Piggy – once of those “fancy” costumes like you would see Disney characters wear. Another year she was a decapitated person – holding her head in her hand!
I knew early on I was not a costume girl. Mom, bless her heart, was neither highly creative nor crafty. My costume options for years alternated between a “hobo” and a “gypsy.” I enjoyed being neither.
Gypsy costume
Halloweens 1979, 1981, 1983…
My dislike grew even more the year Mom dressed me in drag, wearing a tuxedo, to walk around with my little sister, who was wearing a wedding dress. I am certain my sister also felt distressed by this arrangement as she continuously cried, “I just want to be myself.”
Perhaps I agreed. Dressing in costume never felt like “me.” I much rather enjoyed running through graveyards while reading headstones and imagining the lives of those laid to rest over dressing in costume and trick-or-treating. I also preferred Twilight Zone and Hitchcock to horror/slasher movies.
Being Your Self
While costumes and masks are on display, perhaps Halloween can be a time more of the authentic Self can be revealed.
Mark Nepo says, “We are spirits carried in human form, meant to unfold our calling; to live out what we are born with.” Many wisdom traditions believe that this essence, or spirit, originates before birth, and the Self continuously reveals and unfolds. As we live and experience life, we are drawn to things that “light us up” from the inside out. Yoga calls this dharma: when we are pursuing our truest calling and serve all other beings in the universe by playing our true role.
The Practice of Self-Study, Svadyaya
Yoga also suggests a practice to discover this calling: svadhyaya. This is the practice of self-study. By observing our beliefs, behaviors, choices with compassion, sincerity, and curiosity, we discover whether they are soul-affirming. The effect of this contemplation is intuition (the soul’s messenger) and authentic action – hearing with the spirit and not just the head. It involves reflecting on such questions:
What sense of calling arises without any conclusion?
What is that essence or energy that lives inside you? (This is not necessarily a goal you have to achieve.)
In my own svadhyaya, or self-study, the ways I enjoyed Halloween demonstrated the energies of movement and observation. These energies remained consistent in my life and drew me to athletics, yoga, and even studying to become a therapist.
In reflection, I can see the essence in my young sons unfolding as well. My youngest son was drawn to costumes of superheroes. He loved “fighting the bad guys.” This theme in his life has continued as he practices against overconsumption and over-reliance on cars. My oldest son was drawn to dressing as athletes. This part of him continues as daily fitness is one of his virtues.
Svadyaya, or self-study, frees the soul from the mind. In this manner, we can show up authentically for ourselves and others in the world. We can love the life we are living. Despite the Halloween masks, we can discover the true Self.
