Blessings in Disguise - Katie

          I had never been to Yellowstone Park before this month. Of course, I'd heard of Old Faithful, the most famous and one of the larger geysers in the Park, but had no idea the Park was full of hundreds of geysers, big and small, across thousands of square miles of mountainous terrain. In our daylong tour it felt like we saw most of them and it gives one pause to recognize that the ground beneath our feet can be so tenuous and not what it seems. An ancient, teeming force pulses beneath us, though we walk along oblivious.

          You might say the geysers are a blessing in disguise, releasing energy at regular intervals so the vast volcano underneath does not blow its top, and us, to smithereens. We do the same thing, don't we? Releasing bits of ourselves over time, playing it safe, even though the irony is that for us to feel true contentment, even joy, in love and friendship we must allow ourselves to be fully seen. Blow the lid off, so to speak, of the mask we present to the world. Clinging to the surface will never result in deeper connection and the meaning we are all searching for.

          All Hallows' Eve or modern day Halloween, originated as a pagan ritual with the ancient Celtics, the night before the day of the dead. Disguises were worn even then to protect themselves from ghosts; the living did not wish to be recognized by the dead. The rest of the year must have been more difficult to hide one's true identity and feelings. With rampant disease, early death and only medieval amenities to ease their battle for survival, the living recognized in each other a common struggle. Today, we have the luxury of hiding behind an image we project, or a part that we play, forgetting that beneath the surface we all search for the same things: love and acceptance, honesty and authenticity, wisdom and peace.

          Remember the Halloween fun from childhood, when we revealed to a friend or a family member who was really behind that masked bandit or clown? Of course, most of the time, they already knew and loved us just the same.