mabon

October 1st is here. My house is already decorated for Halloween, Upset is taking a trip to the east coast to play with the Muffs, I'm going to the Adirondacks with my dad, and I'm seeing Charli XCX on October 24th. I really love this time of year. I feel like it's always so full of life and happiness, despite the symbolic death of everything around you. Coincidentally, I've lost two people I loved very much in October (October 6th and 29th to be exact), so maybe this trend of filling the month with celebration and togetherness is a distraction. Or perhaps this time of year helps me to embrace the cycle of life and death, and appreciate the beauty in both.

Whereas Thanksgiving and Christmas are for family, Halloween is for friends. As a child, I looked forward to the night I got to stay out after dark, dressed up with my best friends, running around our neighborhoods on a sugar high. As a teenager that evolved into parties at friends' houses with costumes and booze. In my 20s, this means dusting off my Halloween decorations, baking halloween-themed treats, filling my candy dishes with all things pumpkin and caramel apple, and inviting a close group of friends over to watch The Craft and Hocus Pocus.

I don't consider myself to be at all religious, but I do find aspects of Paganism and Buddhism comforting. I researched the Pagan holiday, Mabon, and found this article on Huffington Post. I wanted to share the Pagan meaning of this time of year with my readers, because it's my favorite. Autumn is a time to celebrate your bounty and shed what isn't serving you. I think every season presents that opportunity. New Year's resolutions leave you waiting too long for things to change, and disappointed if they don't. If you reevaluate yourself seasonally, and use that information to inch forward, you'll make a lot of progress as a person.