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You don’t need permission

If 2020 taught me anything it’s this: stop waiting for permission. The type of permission I”m talking about is the kind you need to be giving yourself.

I think 2020 was the year I first decorated for Halloween early. Like, super early. A month earlier than usual. Why? because the question in the midst of that tumultuous year was, Why not? I mean, seriously. Why not. What else is there to do? We’re at home…A LOT, might as well make home a bit more fun! And so we decorated for Halloween in September. That’s when the black light went off in my head. That was the year.

Why do I ever wait to decorate for Halloween until October 1st (or some years even later)? It’s because of two little words that I gave more urgency to than I ever should: social norms. It’s the idea that this is what everybody does. The idea that this is what I should do because of it. In the middle of 2020, living through a time when I witnessed the government literally shut down the country. Living through a moment I didn’t even know was possible or probable. That’s when I realized I don’t need permission anymore.

Hints of this-what would I call it? attitude-already existed in me. You can look to the grateful influences of punk rawk and books like Fight Club and thank them for that. In the middle of the Pandemic, though, was when I looked around and said, “Screw it. Let’s do what we want.” And up went the decor.

Why am I even telling you this? Because, guess what, I started putting my Halloween decorations up yesterday. September 1st, that’s right, I didn’t even wait until after Labor Day. That’s too late for this guy. I want spooky, and I want it now. And why not?

I’ve always hated the acronym YOLO because it gave people a reason to do stupid things. But, in certain instances, I totally agree. It’s true, you only get one life. There’s a famous Mary Oliver poem that puts it more…poetically. I’m sure you know the line, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do/with your one wild and precious life?” Which looks better framed and on the wall of your home than just YOLO, but the sentiment is still there.

What am I going to do? Well heck I’m putting Halloween decor up on September the first. Next year it might be sooner, you don’t know. What else am I going to do? I might keep Christmas up well past New Years. I like having a tree in the house. It’s an Easter tree now, okay? The point is, life is short, and you only get one shot at…this one at least. Why am I busy making sure I live inside a box society built? A box they built without asking me what dimensions I would prefer, and what color I wanted them to paint it? It makes no sense.

This may not have anything to do with pop culture, but maybe its a nudge to embrace the things you love. Nerd out, geek over, fanboy and fangirl, meme, obsess, love, hate, get into passionate conversations about things like Sponge Squarepants and Batman. Do it. turn it to eleven. Take it to the limit. In short, look around and make sure you’re living your best life. Because you only get this one. It needs to be the best one you’ve got.

One more pop culture reference to send you off with. It comes from a scene from Shawshank Redemption and I find myself thinking about it from time to time. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is talking to his prison buddy Red (Morgan Freeman) and is says, “I guess it comes down to a simply choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”