Halloween may be the best holiday (don’t @ us!) but this conversation goes beyond costumes, candy, and spooky decorations.

Rachel and Clair explore Halloween as a “wonderful disruption” of ordinary adult life: a night when being playful, theatrical, creative, extra, and unapologetically enthusiastic is not merely accepted but encouraged.

They discuss the invisible rulebook of adulthood, why so many of us stop experimenting, and how costumes can give us a lower-stakes way to explore confidence, glamour, humor, courage, and other qualities we may suppress in everyday life. They also reflect on childhood holiday experiences, the freedom to choose new traditions as adults, the creative community of cosplay, and the unexpected way Halloween brings neighbors together.

Ultimately, the episode asks a larger question: Why should we reserve this much joy, imagination, and permission for one day a year?

Come for the costumes and candy. Stay for the reminder that play isn’t childish, joy doesn’t have to be earned, and you don’t have to wait until October 31 to find your thing, share your enthusiasm, or let another version of yourself come out to play.

Action Item:

Choose one activity you would ordinarily dismiss as unnecessary, frivolous, embarrassing, or something you are “not good at.”

Then do it anyway. Do it for the joy and the experience!

Signature Takeaway

Please consider this podcast your permission slip to do fun things.

Listener Call

What is your “thing”—the interest, activity, character, craft, or delight that makes you light up?

Tell us about it at askthedragons@dragonhood.world, or tag Dragonhood in the playful thing you decide to try.

Keep Soaring with Additional Resources:

• Playful by Cas Holman
• Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown M.D. with Christopher Vaughan
• Lifelong Kindergarten by Mitchel Resnick
• The Art of Cosplay and Creative Makeup by Chris Peck and Rainbowskinz
• The Power of Fun: How To Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price
• Our Sunday Serenity series
• Sign up for Dragonhood Coaching or any of our other services! https://www.dragonhood.world

Enjoy a Halloween re-release of our Wicked Witches episode, originally aired October 28, 2025!

Double, double, toil and trouble… or just powerful women being themselves? Join Clair and Rachel as we reimagine the wicked witch and uncover why her story still casts such a long spell.

Why are so many powerful women in our stories cast as villains? From fairy-tale stepmothers and cartoon witches to Baba Yaga herself, we dig into how culture punishes female autonomy, why the “ugly = evil” trope is so sticky, and what modern re-tellings are doing to complicate the narrative.

We talk about how these stories shaped us, why witches remain magnetic figures of independence and rule-breaking, and what it means to rewrite the endings.

This week’s takeaway: notice the shorthand, expand your bookshelf, and let characters—and people—be more than two boxes.

Action Item:

We’d love to hear the witch stories you grew up with—and which characters you were most drawn to. Share your reflections with us at askthedragons@dragonhood.world or in the comments.

Keep Soaring with Additional Resources:

• The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman
• In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet
• From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks
• Maleficent movie (2014)

What does it actually mean to feel seen?

In this episode, Rachel and Clair explore the difference between attention, recognition, and true understanding, and why being noticed is not always the same as feeling known.

Sometimes we want recognition. Sometimes we want privacy. And sometimes the urge to say “Please do not perceive me right now” has less to do with avoiding connection and more to do with being exhausted from explaining, translating, or performing a version of ourselves that other people can easily understand.

Together, Rachel and Clair look at how our desire for visibility changes depending on our capacity, trust, stakes, and desire for connection. They also explore what being accurately seen can look like in friendship, leadership, and virtual spaces—and why curiosity can be more powerful than confidently assuming we already understand someone.

Because being really seen doesn’t require being completely exposed. It means having enough room to remain complex.

Action Item:

Notice the difference between being looked at and being understood.

Pay attention to where you feel free to be complex, where you find yourself performing, and where you may be making assumptions about someone else based on only part of their story.

Then try one small shift:

Trade certainty for curiosity.

What do you wish people understood about you without requiring you to explain it perfectly?

We’d love to hear your reflections. Email us at askthedragons@dragonhood.world or share your thoughts using #HereBeDragons.

Keep Soaring with Additional Resources:

• How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks
• Happy Place by Emily Henry
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• To view our webinar on Virtual Networking and other exclusive webinar videos, become a member!
• Sign up for Dragonhood Coaching or any of our other services! https://www.dragonhood.world

Related Here Be Dragons episodes:

• Better Ways to Say Yes and No
• Dragonhood Graduate
• The Power of Small Questions

Be authentic. Be curious. Be accepting. Take up space. Awaken your inner dragon.