What We Can Learn On Halloween

Who do you want to be this Halloween?

Halloween, that wonderful time of year when we are encouraged to dress up, channel our creativity, and express ourselves in an entirely new way. How often do we get the opportunity to wear whatever we please, and have a free pass to do so?

If you have an expressive creative side and fail to access it during the year due to your job, daily obligations, school, etc. this is the time to go wild. Go to the fabric store, notions department, costume shop, and vintage boutique. Enjoy the process of sifting through all of the options. Why not use this fun-loving day to try your hand at crafting an exceptional costume?

The excitement of planning and creating an interesting costume can be yours throughout the year. Why not take the mundane task of daily dressing and infuse it with the energy from your Halloween experience. Isn't that what we do when we choose clothes, create our daily costume? Make the time you shop and dress a creative process to craft wearable art, your ensemble!

Halloween not only encourages the creative process, but consciously or unconsciously requires us to dig deeper into the self to decide who we want to be. Maybe we want to be the flirty bumble bee? Maybe the sexy cheerleader? These choices are often motivated by an internal process. If we can analyze this process, we can come to a greater understanding of who we are or who we want to be.

Even during the rest of the year, we decide who we want to be depending on our clothing choices... even if it is a component of the self. The sexy self, the corporate self, the bum around self, the athletic self...all merely costumes to suit the pieces of the whole. Use this process to examine who you are: What part you are dressing for? Where are these choices coming from? Why have you been dressing the way you have? Why have you chosen these clothes? Then, ask the question of who you want to be: What part would you like to dress for? What clothes make you feel the part? What in your wardrobe is hindering this goal? And what in your wardrobe do you still need? You will never look at your "costume" the same way again!

Happy Halloween!