copyright 2012 David Belt

It’s that time of year again, the one holiday when every adult gets to act like a child. No, it’s not Christmas; it’s bigger than that. It’s Halloween.

Halloween checklist:

Party Invite – Check (even the most agoraphobic of us are expected to be social this night)

Gratuitous Amounts of Candy – Check (far more candy than I would ever need to pass out to the two children that live on my street, half of which will be eaten before Halloween, the other half will be taken to the before-mentioned party, so I don’t eat it all)

Costume – Umm, about that…

I wear a costume to work. I wear a costume at conventions and festivals and ren faires. I make costumes for a living, so one would think I could come up with something. This is the only day of the year I get to pretend to be someone else. (Okay, not the only day, but it’s a biggie.) There is no shortage of ideas out there. A quick google reveals but a small fraction of possibilities.

The possibilities are mounting, and the time is shortening.

So, why is this bothering me? Simple, because I am allowing it.

The empirical truth of human nature is that we allow otherwise superficial concepts to cloud our priorities. It does not matter what I wear, or if I wear a costume at all, but if I allow it, this conflict will consume until me until I make a decision. Once I make a decision, then it could continue to bother me until I actually have the costume. Then, I can be stuck pining over whether, or not, I got the right one.

So, why? Why do we do this to ourselves over such a superficial and eventually meaningless event?

In spite of all our great accomplishments and cerebral prowess, we are inevitably human. We are the only creatures on the planet who blush, who will put cosmetic desires before physical needs.

Find that thing in your life that you are superficially obsessing over, and do yourself a favor. Take a holiday from it. You don’t need to put it off entirely. Just, try not to let it consume you. You’ll find yourself a little happier, your day a little lighter, and just maybe, you’ll figure out what to wear for Halloween.