October 31st a Tuesday - Halloween 2017! This is my favorite holiday of the year! Getting to dress up, take pictures, see others in cool costumes or makeup, watch scary movies and enjoy lots of candy without judgement is truly a gift! 

So this year instead of dressing as a Peacock Showgirl, Toga Empress, Playboy Bunny or Wicked Witch I dressed as a NASA Astronaut! Getting into that oversized orange jumpsuit I thought, well this is pretty dumpy but at least it’s comfortable and appropriate for work! 

But once I arrived at work and people started saying good morning to me, things really changed! They recognized me as an Astronaut right off the bat. They saluted me or called me Commander (as the patch on my left indicates). I suddenly gained this overwhelming sense of importance and dignity just by being in this silly suit! 

These feelings continued throughout the day as we went out to lunch and I continued to get respectful eye contact and nods of approval from strangers. I repeated phrases like “Houston, we have a problem...” and “I’m off to Mars!” 

After work, I went to Trader Joe’s and walking down the aisle an eager father told his son - “Look son, an astronaut, an ASTRONAUT!!!” And his 7 year old spun around and screamed out “COOL!!!” In the spirit of not breaking character I smiled and saluted at him commenting that I was in a starry sea of Dodgers lately (since they were both dressed as Dodger baseball players!)

Every year we have a choice to dress up as anyone or anything we want, and this year I am 100% confident I made the right decision!  

I felt empowered, important and respected and I gained a new level of confidence all in one costumed Halloween day!

So although I’m not going to get into this pseudo power suit again in the month of November, inside I now wear hose feelings of integrity and honor that I intend to carry forward with me from this point on! 

Thanks for reading, 

Crystal Olguin

November 1, 2017