Frightful

From ghoulies and ghosties 

and long leggety beasties 

and things that go bump in the night, 

Good Lord, deliver us!

I can remember, at some point, telling my children 

that Halloween was nothing more than a cultural observance

designed to help us deal with everything that frightened us.

I could tell, from their eye rolls, snickers and sidelong glances,

that they didn't appreciate my psychodynamically driven interpretation -

true as it was.

Given the truth that resides in that statement,

I think this year, 

we should probably celebrate Halloween 

for the next 10 days!

I'm not sure what combination 

of being retired, 

having more time at home 

and having been away from this country

and mass media

 for 2 months

has been at play,

but the constant barrage of a 24 hour new cycle 

with the unrelenting voices of fear mongering 

has been unbearable to me lately.

Even limiting input from TV and print media doesn't completely erase exposure;
even through just Facebook, you're faced with
 all that is portrayed on a daily basis as imminent dangers; 

the wording purposefully used
to instill, create and foster fear of 'the other'...

The unrest in Ferguson 

with threats of more violence
if a specific outcome of the investigation 

is not determined, 

the specter of Ebola, 

'permeable' borders 'ripe for invasion'...

makes me almost miss the 'old days'

of worrying about the Cold War with Russia 

and a martian invasion.

This fear of the unknown,
of the uncontrollable,
of what may be coming next,
is, of course,
nothing new.

It's ancient -
and so are our attempts to master it ,
thereby regaining control.

So here's to Halloween -
and here's to all of us
who refuse to live our lives
based on fear!

I know there's plenty of us out there -

we just have to continue to stick together!