Here’s to costumes – not just the ones we wear to celebrate Halloween.
From the pink costume someone puts us in to prove to the world that we are, indeed, a baby girl, to the “costume” put on us the day of our funeral, life is full of costume changes.
If we’re lucky, we have a trunk full of costumes when we are a kid. Even eating a bowl of cereal warrants dressing the part. A kid in a costume isn’t so much hiding from life, as he is tackling life. He’s Superman or Spiderman. She’s Princess Leia or a ballerina. Life is celebrated, and what better way to do that than by wearing a costume?
The school years start and costumes are mostly relegated to October 31st. One day out of the year we get to pretend to be someone outrageous. The rest of the year, we pretend that we have life figured out.
We agonize over the different costumes needed to navigate adulthood. We need a costume for every reinvention along the way because we are told we must, “Fake it until we make it.” A good costume helps with the faking.
Here’s to the costumes we wear to prove we are worthy of coupling. For some that might be fishnet stockings or thigh-high boots. (Years ago, the perfect mate wore an apron.) Later, some of us wore a costume (that he most likely picked out) to prove we were a good enough wife.
Here’s to the costume we wear to show the world – and convince ourselves – that we are a good enough mom.
To the heels and business suit we never felt smarter in.
To the running shorts that never made running more enjoyable.
To the yoga pants that became the going-to-the-grocery-store pants.
Here’s to make-up that never makes us look younger, hair-color that never completely hides the gray, and perfume that never adequately disguises our own unique scent of fear.
Then, blessedly, we get to the point where we don’t give a damn. Here’s to the bold costumes we wear to celebrate a certain age and to let everyone else know that we are done faking it in order to fit in. Whether we proudly wear mom jeans, or leggings underneath billowy skirts, purple hats or black from head to toe, at this age, our costumes say we’ve arrived. Almost.
These might be my favorite costumes, yet. Although, I was a witch for Halloween 2 years in a row in junior high. I wore that well.