I hate to admit this, but I am a Halloween Bah Humbug. I just do not appreciate the holiday. Maybe this stems from the fact that trick-or-treating was not allowed in my sleepy little town after razor blades were found in candy. Maybe it is because I do not understand the pull of being frightened. I do love to watch toddlers being stuffed into sweet potato costumes, and I admit that I am a Butterfinger gal, but when I go running and have a heart attack because a burly man is hiding in someone’s bushes, I am not amused. The burly man was stuffed, but did not appear so out of the corner of my eye. Being a lone female running on a less traveled road with decapitated heads hanging from an oak tree is not my idea of a good time. I think day to day existence can sometimes be scary enough. We live in a culture where we are bombarded by horrific news on a daily basis. After reading a story about a man who tried to commit suicide by setting himself on fire, and a car bomb that killed 100 people, I do not need to need to see someone in a bloody mask or stick my hand in a bowl of “eyeballs.” Remember I did admit that I was a Halloween Bah Humbug. The holiday originated over 2000 years ago with the Celts, who thought that spirits would rise and walk the earth. The Celts placed bones around their homes to scare of theses spirits. We still decorate our homes and spend hundreds of dollars on candy. We dress up in costumes and become something or someone we are not. So where am I going in this long rant? All I know is that the world is scary enough, obesity is rampant and we really just need to figure out who we really are, and be that person. I do know that I am a Princess deep inside; I don’t need the costume in order to be my true self for one night a year. Yes I will hand out candy, but I will not be dressed up. I will not jump out of the bushes, and I will not decorate my home with body parts. Isn’t it almost Christmas anyways? Ho ho ho.
● About Me
I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends.
Laura Smith Writer 
Leave a comment