Happy Halloween! This has always been one of my favorite holidays. I have great memories from my childhood of choosing outlandish costumes, dressing up, and going out with my parents and little brother to assault the neighborhood and forage for candy. We had the best times!

Do you remember those plastic/rubber masks we had back in the day? You know, they’d stick to your face and you’d get all sweaty. They hindered your breathing so every so often, you’d have to stop walking and use the hand not holding the goodies to push it back and gasp for air. Remember how great that fresh air felt? How easily you could breathe? And then, when you recovered you’d plop the mask back down and keep plodding to the next house.

Fast forward a few years… Can you remember that feeling of lifting off the mask? How often do you feel it these days? Today we are all busy. We all have multiple roles. We have friends, family, co-workers, bosses, lovers, strangers that we relate to every day all day. How many masks do you have?

I’ve spent the last several years stripping away these masks. I am, of course, a work in progress. But I do breathe easier. I smile a lot more. I am relaxed. I am comfortable in my skin. I have had to learn a few lessons…not everyone embraces me. They missed the old me that said yes, went along with the crowd, that allowed others to impose their needs on me. But not all of the lessons have been unpleasant. I have found people and a life that support the changes I needed to make. I have also learned who my true friends are…they’re the ones who said we knew it was you all along.

So, I ask: what mask can you strip away? Take a deep breath…do you want to put it back on? I thought so…

Love, peace and candy corn.