My five-year-old daughter loves spooky Halloween house decor. Last week, we stood for twenty minutes in the drizzling rain, in front of a neighbor's yard, while she delightfully pointed out grinning skeletons, an eight-foot tall, rubber-faced ghoul, and over a dozen bloody-eyed baby dolls hanging from a tree.
Trying to imagine this practice from her fresh eyes, it struck me as curious that our culture has collectively decided to take a month to celebrate death, decay, and all things dreadful.
Most of us, most of the time, organize our lives so that we will not have to encounter the scary realities of the world. We close ourselves off and try to push away the frightful, anxiety-producing, specters that keep us up at night.
But I think there's something really instructive and potentially healing about turning toward and honoring the horrifying. The shadow world is where all of our wildest, most untamed demons live: our fears, grief, jealousy, lust, and rage.
If we can learn to revere and revel in them, we open ourselves up to the richness of human vitality and sensuality. When we are willing to face the frightful, we can say "Yes!" to life without reservation. This process is, as the name of the holiday suggests, hallowed—sacred.
So, this Halloween season, I hope you take the invitation to venture into the shadow world to thrash and dance in the bright, ghastly moonlight.
Danielle LaSusa Ph.D. is a Philosophical Coach, helping new moms grapple with what it means to make a person. She is the creator of The Meaning of Motherhood course, and co-creator and co-host of Think Hard podcast, which brings fun, accessible, philosophical thinking to the real world. To join her mailing list, subscribe here.
© Copyright Danielle LaSusa PhD, LCC, 2021. All rights reserved.
