Thin space-time

I'm not sure I like Halloween as a sexy, alcohol-dripping festival for adults. It seemed more fun when it was in that transition time during the 60s-80s. When I see old 1950s references to Halloween, it seemed mostly for children. Then, at some point, Halloween started to become a time when you as an adult were allowed to feel childlike glee in costume.

Now, with sexy nurse costumes for kids it seems like it's flat out backwards. Halloween is when children are not just dressed up like adults, but are mimicking their party behaviors. And adults seem to think of it as an opportunity not feel like a child, but to act like one, trying to relive a childhood or frat party long gone.

Maybe the key is transition time. I like the transition time. And, like Halloween, it's also the scariest time. Transition is terrifying. You're never sure what comes out the other side. You hope, dream, aspire for something special and better but there's always the risk of a nightmare.

It's why when we approach the end of our time on earth, we fear the reaper. We don't know what to expect and fear what must come.

But with All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Halloween - the Dias de los Muertos time - we once again celebrate the transition. It's a thin space where past meets future, life greets the grave, humor shakes hands with fright.

I like most am leery of transition. But perhaps as one of those annoyingly optimistic ENFP types, I also carry in my heart a hope and eagerness to see what is on the other side. And, while here in the present, hope to see the shimmering glimmer of what might yet be.

Much has changed this past year. I've said goodbye to my brother in law, gotten married, walked the Camino de Santiago, moved out of my office to work from home, and paid respects to friends and family. I've watched people get hurt and hurt in return. I've held the hands of those who I may not see again for years to come or ever again.

All are times when you have to breathe and take things one step at a time, moment by moment, day by day. And yet in them there is hope that the thin space between yesterday and tomorrow will yield an insight and love that surpasses what we understand today. And who knows? Maybe I won't like where things end up. But until then, we can listen, enjoy, and grow together.

This time of thin space may be unsettling, but for me, it's the time of my life.