Inspiring Me Now

  • "The Purpose of Life is to Be Happy" Dalai Lama

October 28, 2011

Jacqueline-O-Lantern

I've always said I have a circle face
When you carve a pumpkin you open up the top, scrape out all the gunky seeds and pulp. You put it in a bag and toss it out (well, except for the seeds. I toast those and eat ‘em!) Anyway, while you’re scraping and pulling out goo, you’re thinking about what awesome design you’re going to carve on this pumpkin. It’s going to be something you’re proud of, maybe something that makes you laugh. In any case, it’s something you want other people to look at and admire.

So you cut and shave and poke and pull until, VOILA! Your jack-o-lantern is complete! It’s not perfect, maybe you accidentally scraped out a little too much, maybe you made one of his features just a little too small, but others will never notice. You take out your matches and light a little candle to place inside. You put the cover on to protect the flame, then you stand back and gaze. Your jack-o-lantern looks perfect and it’s all because of that hard work you put in, and the little flame burning inside. 

This got me to thinking about how a great jack-o-lantern is the perfect metaphor for one’s self. 

I’ve worked hard to carve out the features I’d like people to see. I had to dig inside myself and get rid of my emotional gunk and goo. I put it in a bag and threw it away. And then I worked and worked, carving out and working on myself until I was finally satisfied. Now people can look at me and see my little light. 

Everyone has issues, emotional and otherwise, but a lot of people have a hard time letting go. When we let go and get over our issues, we are cleaning out our emotional gunk. While we’re doing that we are working on becoming a better person, the person we want to be, and the person we want others to really see. When we’ve made enough room inside and we’ve carved and sculpted ourselves just enough, people start to see our light. People get to see who we really are. And the part I think that is the most fantastic of all is the fact that you get to create whatever picture you’d like people to see. 

So what do you want to be this Halloween? Maybe it’s time to start carving out your own self and getting rid of that emotional crap inside. Just a little something to think about while you’re munching on your pumpkin seeds this Halloween season.