Q. Why is Halloween on October 31st?
October 31st is the last day of the Celtic calendar

Q.  What was the reason it was created?
It was a pagan holiday, originally to honor the dead.

Where is Normal?  What is Normal?  There is no Normal.

“He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two hours in line. “Aah, aah, aaahhchchchchcheeeewww,” the old Asian woman and her husband were coughing and sneezing and constantly permeating my personal space bubble – even after I tried to nicely say something to them – the entire time. Kids were crying because they didn’t want a shot – or the nasal mist – and were bored out of their little minds. Adults became agitated and subsequently overly verbose that “some people” were given priority over the rest of us – namely, pregnant women – and were moved to the front of the line without having to wait. “Seriously, sir,” I wanted to say to the loud complainer, “you can wait two hours or become pregnant for nine months so you can go to the front of the line but for that priviledge you will still have to push a watermelon out of that little whole in your nether regions.”

This whole morning was truly an exercise in human tolerance. And in anxiety management. And in gratitude and grace. Tolerance for the thousand or more people in line – from all walks of life, of all ages, of all ethnic backgrounds. Most impatiently vying for their position in line. Some, including the older Asian woman who was behind me, were literally walking into people, coughing and/or sneezing dramatically, and cutting in front of them…over and over. She, at least, never succeeded, for those of us around her would not allow it – odd what entertains you and the strangers you bond with in these situations.

Others were showing symptoms and signs of true dis-ease – both physical and mental. This caused my anxiety management to go into overdrive. It sucks not being medicated and having to feel and process everything that comes up. There were many moments when I wished for a facemask and as many other moments that I was ready to grab my still healthy kids and leave.

The irony of getting swine flu (or whatever else was infiltrating this now densely shared space) while waiting in line for two hours for the vaccine was not lost on me. But I kept going back to the gratitude for the ability to finally get the flu shot for my kids – the shot which has somehow eluded their pediatrician and about which my mother emails me daily horrifying statistics.  As a needle phobe i was also impressed with how my kids and the strangers with whom we were sharing this moment, handled the needles puncturing their arms (the nasal mist was not an option for us) as well as the tension of perceived illness and the impatience that permeated the air.

Walking away and walking by the still hundreds of people in line, I was immensely relieved that this was done, crossed off my list. That my family and I were now somewhat protected, and that the thousands of other individuals (who were probably feeling the same things about me that I was about them) were, or soon would be, too.

Sometimes it is the music that reminds us….that pulls us out of our heads and puts us back into our hearts….that helps us to recall that which makes us smile.

Click here to feel what Fridays and The Cure can do for you!