Such a hopeful and compassionate take on this - my favorite celebration of the whole year … a night to make merry with our monsters - to give them their moment, to dance with them, and to shine the light of a thousand candles on their faces until we are no longer afraid.
Wonderful. That sounds like a very special time. It is my wedding anniversary and I remember well all the nieces wearing fangs alongside their best frocks! I only realised when I saw the photos! It is a day when we reverse roles; he becomes cheerful and generous, buying sweets for the neighbourhood children and I became a tad grumpy and distant.
Bringing a touch of joy into the world and the lives of our children. And, making memories that will be repeated as our loved ones grow. This is a life well lived.
I love these words…
“Meanwhile, each one of us can tip the balance between goodness, towards light.”
lovely offering, Katherine. i appreciate your reflecting on this time of year from a child's eye view (recognizing how it has been commercialized) as a time for fun while also balancing it as a time of contemplation about death, those who have walked before us, and darkness...at least that is how i took in your words. (and i love your october chapter in Wintering...and see how you have shifted since writing it!). it can be, if we are open, a time of year for deep connection...however we choose to "interpret" that. ;-)
What a beautiful post. I love how you've given into the over-the-topness and I find myself perhaps not with Halloween dramatically but in general with childhood giving in more to the over-the-topness of things as I realize how fleeting they all are. I want to keep the holidays "small" and the way they were for me as a child, Halloween was the one night, my mom never participated much other than helping with a costume idea or adjustment and giving us mac n' cheese before we went out - but then I'm also thinking, why resist joy and fun? The home celebration sounds ideal to me but alas my kids even though I think as old or older than Bert still want to be out and about all night.
I love the both/and of your celebration. The silliness and the sombre. The duality. Not shying from either. (Makes me think of Fifty-seven Fridays: Losing Our Daughter, Finding Our Way by Maya Sack laughing with tears and feeling both simultaneously.) On the scale of suffering, this is small, but temperatures climbing into the 80s today is so wrong, so off, such a death-knell feeling for me and also just the entirely wrong ambience for Halloween - it's been weighing on me all week (and making the urgency of the election and continuing climate progress that much more urgent). You've helped me see a way to honor and hold space for both the fun and the deep sadness of what we've done to the earth. This is a truly brilliant post, like all your posts. May we find "agency within all this fate" and accept the invitation you've make salient.
This. I love the image of your grandparents - a peek at the precious, but liminal, everyday of a past that is so different. But something precious is still held from that time to this, and I think you’ve captured that a little bit in your words here. Never forget that children’s laughter is a balm against growing old, and that love is what separates us from death itself 🧚🧜♀️🧛♂️🧝🏽♀️🦹🏻♂️👩🏾🚀👩🏼🎤🥰
The last paragraph on Halloween is exquisite ! I forwarded it to several friends, family members & colleagues who are mothers, grandmothers and/or teachers. I,of course, shared it was your delicious quote!🧡👍🏽🎃🍁
Such a hopeful and compassionate take on this - my favorite celebration of the whole year … a night to make merry with our monsters - to give them their moment, to dance with them, and to shine the light of a thousand candles on their faces until we are no longer afraid.
Yes! Feeling so much tender Liminality today, and trying not to turn away from it. Thank you for these reminders, friend. ♥️
Wonderful. That sounds like a very special time. It is my wedding anniversary and I remember well all the nieces wearing fangs alongside their best frocks! I only realised when I saw the photos! It is a day when we reverse roles; he becomes cheerful and generous, buying sweets for the neighbourhood children and I became a tad grumpy and distant.
Bringing a touch of joy into the world and the lives of our children. And, making memories that will be repeated as our loved ones grow. This is a life well lived.
I love these words…
“Meanwhile, each one of us can tip the balance between goodness, towards light.”
Beautiful post, Katherine. (We will be making mummy hot dogs too, and slime soup…) 👻
lovely offering, Katherine. i appreciate your reflecting on this time of year from a child's eye view (recognizing how it has been commercialized) as a time for fun while also balancing it as a time of contemplation about death, those who have walked before us, and darkness...at least that is how i took in your words. (and i love your october chapter in Wintering...and see how you have shifted since writing it!). it can be, if we are open, a time of year for deep connection...however we choose to "interpret" that. ;-)
What a beautiful post. I love how you've given into the over-the-topness and I find myself perhaps not with Halloween dramatically but in general with childhood giving in more to the over-the-topness of things as I realize how fleeting they all are. I want to keep the holidays "small" and the way they were for me as a child, Halloween was the one night, my mom never participated much other than helping with a costume idea or adjustment and giving us mac n' cheese before we went out - but then I'm also thinking, why resist joy and fun? The home celebration sounds ideal to me but alas my kids even though I think as old or older than Bert still want to be out and about all night.
I love the both/and of your celebration. The silliness and the sombre. The duality. Not shying from either. (Makes me think of Fifty-seven Fridays: Losing Our Daughter, Finding Our Way by Maya Sack laughing with tears and feeling both simultaneously.) On the scale of suffering, this is small, but temperatures climbing into the 80s today is so wrong, so off, such a death-knell feeling for me and also just the entirely wrong ambience for Halloween - it's been weighing on me all week (and making the urgency of the election and continuing climate progress that much more urgent). You've helped me see a way to honor and hold space for both the fun and the deep sadness of what we've done to the earth. This is a truly brilliant post, like all your posts. May we find "agency within all this fate" and accept the invitation you've make salient.
This. I love the image of your grandparents - a peek at the precious, but liminal, everyday of a past that is so different. But something precious is still held from that time to this, and I think you’ve captured that a little bit in your words here. Never forget that children’s laughter is a balm against growing old, and that love is what separates us from death itself 🧚🧜♀️🧛♂️🧝🏽♀️🦹🏻♂️👩🏾🚀👩🏼🎤🥰
Wonderful -- especially that last line!
This is wonderful. I love that you made Bert gasp, and even before you said it yourself, I was thinking how much you look like your grandma. x
The last paragraph on Halloween is exquisite ! I forwarded it to several friends, family members & colleagues who are mothers, grandmothers and/or teachers. I,of course, shared it was your delicious quote!🧡👍🏽🎃🍁