Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

 I have been doing a lot of inner child healing work as of late. I won't get into all of that here, but, I very recently had a realization I thought was interesting and would like to share. I have so often struggled with the question How did you come to love Halloween so much? It's something that has just always simply been, for me, and I never really questioned it.  But, with recent things I've been thinking about and focusing on, I realized I may have an actual explanation as to how I initially latched onto Halloween so heavily. When I was a child, I absolutely loved holidays. All holidays, big or small. I just always wanted to celebrate.  I've realized recently that this was most likely due to the fact that my life was somewhat boring as a child. I was an only child, and a loner through and through. Though I was good at making my own fun, most of the time, everything in my life was pretty repetitive and routine.  But holidays were different. Holidays were the days...

Here we stand, at the edge of summer. It's that time of year again, when seasonal depression kicks in and the only consolation is the promise of Halloween soon hitting store shelves. This year, more retailers seem to be getting into the spirit of "Summerween", offering actual spooky themed summer merchandise, particularly bedding. I've seen sheets and pillows from TJMaxx , and blankets from Walmart . It's not a motif that I, personally, can really get into, but I'm happy that it exists. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the normalization of being spooky all year round. I'd like to think that soon it will be commonplace for a sheet ghost or skeleton to pop up on different holiday decor throughout the year. Valloween has already caught on, and Summerween seems to be the new thing, so why not Creepmas, Springoween, etc.? I have always said that for me, personally, Halloween is just my style, and is no different to me than it is for other people that decora...

I50 days until Halloween. It's ironic, in a way, that this last leg of the journey is the hardest for me.  I look out the window and see the blinding sun shining on the green leaves, as people walk past in tank tops and flip flops and the lake across the street glimmers in its beautiful, painful way, and I feel further now from Halloween than I did as I left Sleepy Hollow in the late morning hours on November 1st. 150 days, and it feels heavier, longer, than 364. Summer depression is not easy. Hearing about how "gorgeous" it is outside in reference to the weather that drains me physically and mentally, makes me feel more invisible and unimportant than I did in my high school years. The constant bleating of Stop rushing the seasons!   as soon as a pumpkin dares appear on a store shelf, when "rushing the seasons" is the only thing keeping me going, makes me feel like I don't matter. I realized, recently, that a person with summer SAD longing for fall, is no di...