I've long suspected that any iconographic element that exists on one culture must exist in every culture. Halloween upon us, Corporate Yogis, I'm looking for that all-is-one connection in this literal meaning behind this weekend's festivities.
The notion of remembering that we all die and that we are literally here to experience life UNTIL we die is particularly salient for many of us this year. In the midst of survival concerns, the challenge of remaining connected to life, to this moment, this breath in, that breath out, no matter what our external situation has sometimes given way instead to connecting to concerns about our external situation. The triggers for survival fears have seemed ubiquitous, popping up in our work, home life, health, the environment, political change, and world power struggles.
Having spent a bunch of time in Latin America, I've admired how Latin cultures embrace the concept of the circle of life, of continuity of connection, and of remembering the old adage "dust to dust. In Buddhist countries you'll often see the lifeline of the buddha expresed as a progression from baby to corpse decay, or the inevitability of death expressed in the beautiful mandala sand drawings painstakingly created and destroyed in an instant. And in yoga we recognize the impermanence of all our earth-bound concerns by practicing Savasana, literally corpse pose, at the end of every practice.
While sussing out what I want my hallow'een observation to be, I'm going back to these roots. Much like the wisdom paths we study, I want to face my deepest earthbound fears, tangle with the trappings of my ego, and see if I can't live through my worst imagination tomorrow night.
Having long ago befriended my inner sexy nurse, this means I'm going to have to set aside the fishnet stockings and reach a little deeper into my closet. Summoning the inner demons of failure, shame, poverty, homelessness, ugliness, aging and imperfection - I know I'll be facing the monsters that really keep me up at night.
I'm not sure how I'll bring it all together visually, but you know, in donning this costume, I'm honoring the worthiness, abundance, beauty, perfection and lifeforce within all of us no matter external circumstances.
Scared? Yes. But expressing these fears will make this the scariest and most liberating Halloween ever.
2 comments:
So, how did your halloween costume turn out? Glad you didn't go as yet another sexy nurse!
OMG - I mean "o my goddess". I sat with exactly what it would mean to be honest about what I fear most and decided to be the golden goddess I like to imagine I am. At first I thought of labelling myself with all the fears that riddle the consciousness - about appearance, about courage, about success. Then I remembered one of the meditations Sally (that is Sally Kempton) taught us about infusing our being with divine light and I realized I'd rather move towards the light I fear rather than be stuck in the darkness that is so familiar. A la Marianne Williamson masquerading as Nelson Mandela, I decided to be that lightest aspect of myself that I've created a habit out of holding at bay. I have to say, it felt really good to be her, to wield a magic wand and a sword, to be unapologetically shiny, and to make no apologies for the lack of precedent for my identity. Hmmm...lots to learn there...I keep invoking her/me in all I do.
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