The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others. – Ghandi
When it comes to Halloween, now that our own kids have grown up and left home so many years ago, the annual event can become a bit of a chore, not as exciting, perhaps. Same thing every year. Kids come to the door and try to grab your attention for candy, you go through the motions and briefly look at their costumes, then comment, then you give them what they do not need. You hope that the kids coming will not be too old, big, rude, spoiled, and obnoxious.
Hey, hold on a minute...these thoughts are not right! These are our children, the future generation, at a time when there is not enough people who actually demonstrate caring for them or giving them self esteem. Of course we need to at least make an effort for this cause, for this is the one time that we will have them by our door and a chance to have some fun, enjoy the experience, and show our enthusiasm! How many people actually do this is the question. The kids get little from the experience otherwise.
Our Halloween decorations look old and pale in comparison to some yards from overly enthusiastic neighbours, and so I will need to rely upon other ideas to make their visit more meaningful. Kids always say “trick or treat”, but only get a treat and so maybe I should try to trick them a little, but not scaring them off too much since, after all, they are mostly little children. I certainly do not want to scare them with anything that promotes violence as a form of entertainment, because there is simply too much of this presently in our life. So, I revert back to what I have done before, only this time I will show a bit more enthusiasm to make it a more memorable experience.
I will now relay what happened with one little young lady ahead of others, for she was just of the right age and so full of it, and I knew she was coming to me so sweet, innocent and naïve. I could see her bounding up to the door with her sack with much anticipation and such energy and enthusiasm to get her reward, with her mother overseeing her antics from the street. I quickly scampered and was nicely positioned behind the front door to allow my trick to proceed.
Once the door bell rang, I reached out to carefully and slowly open the door that chose to creak and groan a little in the process, thanks to my lack of upkeep. She naturally was anticipating seeing someone there, but all she saw was:
a pair of slippers properly located facing her on the cold dark gray floor, but with nobody physically occupying them;
in the background, carefully selected soft lighting with shadows that peered around the corner of walls from various hallways, rooms, and stairwell. She naturally did not know what was behind those walls and what there could have been;
The only other thing she saw was nothing, including no one to greet her!
Seems rather simple perhaps, but I was able to achieve what I wanted to accomplish. She just stood there in complete silence, for what could she say. I caught her off guard, she was surprised, and I presume she let her thoughts run wild for what possibly could be going on in this house and how the door magically opened by itself.
I eventually showed myself at her height with a feeble, non offensive "boo" from behind the door for what seemed like an eternity of silence. You should have seen the look on her face! She had the greatest beaming smile of anyone I have ever known! She was really dressed up in red to support her theme, so pretty along with her youth, and I could see that her mother came up with all sorts of things for her to put on from around their house, including a red toque and a little lipstick to make her presence more meaningful. If only other children were given as much attention to detail as she had received this day.
Her incredible smile told me that she was elated, and completely satisfied with my action, for she had been nicely entertained! She had completely forgotten about anything else and what she needed to do and was only living in the magic of the moment and interacting with me. She was glowing and I saw her for who she really was based on her current level of maturity, and she was in her element since she knew I was also caught up in the tradition, playing her game, and I was at her level of thinking. We were buddies, but I knew her mother was waiting and so I had to let her go. She said her thanks once she had that treat, then I watched her run off.
Now if only she remains like how I saw her in the future when interacting with others, a little candle with a spark, who can light up the heart of anyone she meets...this world will be a much better place. But then it is also up to us to help make this happen by encouraging such behaviour, and we start by "going the extra mile" and giving them in a meaningful and creative way the love and attention they need, and to love them for who they really are. For we have the power to influence them, to make a difference in their lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWKkdgyJ_NI
Now that I was rewarded for my effort, I need to work on next year's plan. If only I could make those slippers move a little bit, hmmm, I will work on that. Also if I could get someone to do the door part, then I could pretend to me a zombie walking down the stairs, at least for the older kids. I can look rather scary these days when my hair is a mess, then I just add a few weird sounds and movements with my hands and stomp around! Yeah, that sounds good!