Lesson #4: Playing Dress Up

Why do we love October 31st so much? Putting on costumes, face paint, disguises? Becoming someone else for a night? Both my mother and my sister are professional thespians, so I come by it honestly. I've always loved the thrill of a transformation. I've changed careers more times than many have changed underwear (ok, I exaggerate, but only slightly), and each time I fully embraced the part. But it was always a role, a challenge to convince others that I was - or wasn't - who I said I was. My favorite parlor trick at bars and parties was to make people guess what I did for a living. I offered money, prizes, prestige, but no one ever came close, not even when I gave the hint of healthcare. Was it that I was female (and doctors are male, of course), or that I so didn't look the part? I often got graphic designer, entertainment lawyer, fashion PR agent. It was beyond amusing. But it also got tiring, all the playing dress up, the pretending to be someone I wasn't and fooling people wasn't exactly a fulfilling reward. Now when I announce my job on planes, in bars, on dates (when I was going on many), I don't get much of a reaction. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still get the usual freakout over my academic pedigree, but it's pretty tame in comparison to the Olde Dayes. Does this mean I'm finally being who I am? That I'm old enough to know the difference between who you are and what you do? That you can be a doctor, no longer be a doctor, and still retain your identity. A job is just one facet of who we are, but it doesn't, or shouldn't, define us. That way once a year we are free to reinvent ourselves as slutty nurses, TV show characters, historical figures, and any number of goblins and ghouls. Nothing scary about that. Happy Hallowe'en, everyone.