Halloween is my favorite holiday because it's the socially acceptable time to express sides of ourselves normally hidden. Halloween costumes are a good meter of what society is up to every October 31st. At this year's Halloween Dance Party hosted by my kid's TV dance show, Chic-A-Go-Go, Metropolis felt very safe since there were several Super-men-boys-girls-women. I saw many red capes and arms akimbo. I'm guessing these costumes were efficient, affordable and empowering enough that the masses chose to be vulnerable only to Kryptonite for the weekend.

Superman still suffered from stress, though. I'd guess that every side of ourselves embraced this Halloween would benefit from getting back to the basics of self-care. I dressed as a three-eyed truck driver, imagining that if I was exhausted from hauling a mighty load cross-country in an 18 wheeler, I'd practice yoga nidra instead of doing a bump of cocaine to finish my delivery.

Let's try an experiment starting November 1. Post-Halloween, let's pack away our fantasy, costumed self and get back to basic self-care with our authentic selves. Let's drink 2/3 our weight in ounces of clean water. And sleep 8 hours a night. And make quiet time every day for reflection. I'll check back with you next month to see how it's going and how you feel.

Until then, Happy Halloween! Have a safe and expressive holiday! (And, by the way, I'm in Shanghai right now!)