By Irene Conlan -

Halloween.

It’s a day for dressing up, putting on a mask and going from house to house asking for treats. Its origins are ancient but in our day it’s a day for children. A strange holiday  -  we send our children out to beg for candy that we generally won’t let them eat at home (and take a lot of it away from them after they go to bed because we don’t want them to overdose on sugar). We have to check everything they receive to be sure someone hasn’t put something harmful – like razorblades in apples – in their Halloween bag.  And we go with them in case there are molesters or someone else in the neighborhood  who might do them harm. We take them to haunted houses that scare the wits out of them and then tell them not to cry because it isn’t real. It is, indeed, a strange holiday but it can be a tremendous bunch of fun.

We, as adults, also put on a costume and a mask and pretend we’re some one else. This gives us license to do things we may not ordinarily do – like beg for treats.

But Halloween isn’t the only day that many hide behind a mask – some do it on a regular basis. Some never take it off. It is just too scary to let anyone know who they really are.

Have you ever had the thought, “If anybody knew who or what I really am, they wouldn’t like me”? Or have you thought “What if they find out  that I’m a fake, a phoney?”  The conclusion is that I cannot let anyone know who I really am so I’ll tell them what they want to hear and I’ll act like the person I think they want me to be.  Some have done it for so long that they have only a dim idea of who they are when they aren’t pretending.

It’s a little tiring, always trying to put on the face you think someone wants to see.

So wouldn’t it be a hoot if this Halloween instead of pretending to be someone else you pretended to be you?

Be you. Let others see how much you enjoy this kid’s day. Let someone else see how much you love beauty, how much you care about things – how want to let loose and do something you love that no one knows about.

It could be the scariest Halloween you’ve ever had but just think how much fun it could be to take that mask off once and for all.

Happy Halloween