Halloween is one of the few times during the year when it's politically and culturally appropriate to dress up and being someone or something else. For many years as a kid I dressed up like a pirate or a vampire. Why I never dressed up as a vam-pirate, I don't know. As an adult, before kids, I would dress up like Lenny Kravitz or just wear random thrift store clothes and brightly colored feather boas. It was less about being a character and more about having a great time with friends and strangers. I was done with being tough, looking rough, or scary. I wanted to dance, shout, and have fun with friends and strangers.

Whether you are like me or not, it's quite interesting that we only allow this type of dress up and behavior on Halloween. While I understand that doing it daily would get boring, getting into character more often would allow us to express a side of us that might be held back by the daily environment we live in. Brené Brown often talks about being our authentic self and it seems like our once a year Halloween character might be a big part of our authentic self that we don't get to share. So, hopefully today, outside of all other days, you get to be more you than usual!

Would you be interested in more holidays where you could dress up and be more of your authentic self? What would you want / need from others, the culture, or yourself in order to make this happen?

Part of being empathetic to yourself is knowing when you are hiding parts of you away just because it feels out of line with the culture or environment. Identify those things that you feel like you’re hiding and ask yourself, why am I REALLY not being this person or having this trait in real life?

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

With energy,

Shelton

PS. I am wearing a hat that looks like an insect, a Vote Empathy shirt, some jeans, and a leather vest that is red, white, and blue with stars and long tassels.