A Deadly Wicked Holiday

Halloween is a holiday of satanic rituals and the offering of sacrifices.  Early on it was given the nickname “The Festival of Darkness [1].”  Sounds familiar right?  Not really?  That’s because American culture has commercialized this holiday, whereas many other cultures still hold ceremonies and rituals that recognize this day as the pagan holiday that it originated from.

            On October 1^st it can be seen across the nation.  Stores become filled with the mainstream spirit of Halloween.  Candy is sold in huge bags, Halloween USA reopens its doors, and horror movies start to appear on every TV channel.  What is a ‘Witch?’  Well, turns out, that the image of a witch – green hair, long nose, pointy hat – actually originated in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.  The mainstream media made people associate the word ‘witch’ with the Wicked Witch of the West. [2]  On Halloween night, Americans dress up in costumes of every variety and roam the streets going door to door, knocking, and saying the magical words ‘Trick-or-Treat’.  This is usually followed by the trick-or-treater receiving some candy.

            In Mexico, they celebrate a different version of Halloween - Dias de Muertos (Day of the Dead).  This isn't a day of candy and celebration but rather a day of honoring the dead as well as commemorating them through prayer and preparation of their favorite dishes when they were alive.  Often families will visit the gravesites of their relatives and visit with them a while. [3]  There is very little commercialism of Halloween in Mexico, only recently have skeletons been sold in stores to symbolize the happenings of the holiday.
            Halloween originated during the early twelfth century as a Christian holiday in which was the last day that a soul had to wander the earth to seek vengeance as well as symbolized the turning of the seasons.  It was not until the Salem Witch Trials that the “All Saint’s Day” began to shift meaning and include ideas like witchcraft.  Halloween was not considered a satanic ritual but rather it remained as a day to hold a feast to help pass the spirits into the afterlife.

            It is clear that different cultures celebrate and treat Halloween as a different holiday.  In all honesty, I like the way we, as Americans, celebrate it.  I enjoy candy and a good spook every now and then.  However, I can also see the importance of the traditions of other cultures.

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[1] Rogers, Nicholas.  Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 11-22, 49-78, 103-110. Print.

[2] Lavin, Maud.  The Business of Holidays. New York: The Monacelli Press, Inc., 2004. 198-205. Print.

[3] Garciagodoy, Juanita. Digging the Days of the Dead. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1998. 79-109. Print.

Awkwardly Murmuring

In the article, “Shyness and Sociotropy: Additive and Interactive Relations in Predicting Interpersonal Concerns,” I learned that shyness is not the whole reason that shy people have trouble communicating with others; but rather that sociotropy is the added fuel that it takes to start the fire – so to speak.  Sociotropy is the need to please others, not just passively but excessively. 

“Furthermore, this individual manifests thought content that reflects concerns about social desirability, such as ‘I’m unattractive,’ ‘I’m unlikable,’ and ‘I’m boring.”  The similarity between this cognitive style and the self-depreciating cognitive style of shy persons is striking and suggests that shyness and sociotropy could combine in an additive and/or an interactive manner to predict increased interpersonal concerns.”[1]

This passage describes the additive power that obsessing over the needs to please others or to have them appreciate you, and the lack of communication that comes with shyness and how they combine to create large problems in communication with the individual. 

I can somewhat relate to this.  My sister is extremely shy, as in she won’t really go anywhere without anyone else.  She won’t talk to anyone who she doesn’t know which is usually how shy people act.  Although I have never seen signs of her self-deprecating herself this could be at least some insight as to help her achieve control over her shyness. 

If it is these two ideas that cause problems with communication, then it is to the benefit of the individual to help guide them so that they don’t become socially awkward.  One of my favorite lines that I hear, especially around the science department, is that ‘Einstein didn’t graduate high school and was kind of awkward, and look what he accomplished.’  This is not the case, sadly, because in today’s society we require communication more than ever.

Sociotropy seems to be a beast with no one to tame it.  People expect more and more out of others each day and if there are people who cannot effectively communicate with others then they could be out of jobs, future opportunities, and so forth.  Talk more with others and be yourself are the only pieces of advice that I could tell introverts to help them become more people friendly and successful.

Works Cited:
[1] Monroe Bruch, Richard Heimberg, Anne Hunt, Bonnie McIntosh, and Kathy Rivet, "Shyness and Sociotropy: Additive and Interactive Relations in Predicting Interpersonal Concerns," Journal of Personality, 67, no. 2 (1999): 373-406.

"Hey, what's up?" "Good!"

The “Listening is Powerful Medicine” article really put true listening into perspective. Doctors really only ever ask about your well-being and any symptoms or possible reasons you have for being ill. I think that this article really shows that we must set aside the job and truly listen to what people are trying to say to us. We need to care about others, and maybe that's medically relevant. Listening in medicine, or even in retail like my current job, could promote many possibilities and change the future of organizations.

The article made me think of my job in retail. I will always greet the customer with a "How are you today?" but to be honest, it seems as though it is just a customer/employee courtesy that I ask them that question. I honestly don't care about the answer, it doesn't matter to me how they are, and I can't really do anything with that information unless it allows me to cross sell or something of the sort.  We had a speaker come in and talk with us associates about getting rid of this greeting and implement a new greeting that will get straight to the point.  Nine times out of ten when I lead off with the new greeting, ‘What brings you into Office Depot?’ the customer usually replies with ‘Good!’, then becomes confused as to why I did not ask about his day or how he is doing.  I know for a fact that more and more stores, not just Office Depot, are implementing these types of programs and it causes me to wonder as to when we will implement robotic shopping assistants. 
            As far as medicine is concerned, the doctor only used four out of the six steps of listening.  She sensed or received the message, was mindful of the message, organized the message, and interpreted and evaluated the message but did not get so far as to respond to the message or remember the message.  It wasn't until she was told by a patient that she needed to listen until she performed all six steps to listening.

I think that active listening is good for patient health because, as aforementioned, it makes the speaker feel more value.  People who have pets tend to be in better medical condition than those who don’t. Is it because they have someone to talk to who will actually listen to them?  If people listen to the speaker, then maybe the speaker will become more self-confident, or maybe they will develop a psychological cure for their disease.  What I mean by psychological cure is not necessarily a cure that will rid the body of the disease but rather act as if it were a placebo and make the body think that it was healthier.  Sometimes just fooling the body into thinking it was healthier can make the healing process progress more rapidly.  I think that the listening process should be implemented everywhere because it will make for a happier and healthier world.