Wallow-een

In days long past, it was said that on one night out of the year, the dead disguised themselves and walked among the living, seeking souls to drag back to the underworld. The living dressed as if dead on this night -- the eve of All Souls' Day -- to celebrate the very fact that they lived. A day now associated with darkness and death is in fact a tender tribute to life itself.

I propose that one day out of the year -- the day before Valentine's Day -- be renamed Wallow-een. On this day, you can dress to mourn, imitate, celebrate, mock, or otherwise exorcise the one you loved and lost ... you may even mock love itself. You might dress as your former beloved, but paint "his" face half angel and half devil, to more closely match the man you knew. You may dress as the person for whom your lover left you, and carry a bloody knife to drive the point home. You may even choose to disguise yourself as a giant pulsing heart. The costume, like the choice to celebrate the day at all, is up to you.

On this day, you may get together with friends and throw pity parties. You may go bobbing for bitter lemons. You may even "haunt" your former beloved, but all of this is beside the point. The point is in dressing up: showing the world that you have been hurt, and hurt badly, but are still here -- among the living, the hopeful, the available.

One day, one night. As Valentine's Day arrives, the costume comes off; your life returns to normal; you continue living your post-heartbreak life, wallow-free. And when the waves of grief wash over you again, you stand strong among them ... planning what you will wear next year.

[Dedicated, with love, to the lonely-heart posters at the "Anti-Unrequited-Love Drug" thread.]