“Superstition ain’t the way” Happy Friday the 13th everyone!
Stevie Wonder – Superstition via YouTube
It’s Friday the 13th! Well, there’s only about a quarter of the day left here. But, still. When I was little I used to love Friday the 13th’s because at school we would do fun different things, like color pictures of black cats or sing scary songs in music. And I decided that I liked the day. Which is strange, because I was always fairly superstitious. I didn’t step on cracks, except when I was feeling really daring, and I always had tremendous concern for my mom afterwards. I didn’t mess with mirrors, and when one of mine broke I was highly concerned I would actually have bad luck for 7 years. I wonder if the cell phone/ipod screens that show your reflection count? If so there are a lot of people who should probably be concerned these days. Maybe that’s what’s wrong now? My ipod screen has been cracked for the last 3 years. My point is, I decided I liked 13, because we had fun days at school, and at the time, I was really interested in becoming a teenager. Thirteen was the lucky number that was going to make me a grown-up almost!
Do you have superstitions? I really like learning about them. It’s fascinating how it just takes one time of great luck or terrible luck for us to form a superstition. We may never take a route again or we might always choose a route simply because of the outcome one time. But superstitions never work every time. Good or bad. And we may be missing out on the good things simply because we decided that route was a bad one years and years ago. Maybe the road has changed. Maybe things have improved. Maybe there’s an interstate now to get you to your goal sooner and you don’t know because you’re unwilling to try.
It’s so funny to me, because there are places I won’t go and things I won’t do a certain thing because people I know tried it and failed. And though it’s good to heed the lessons of others, sometimes we have to try for ourselves. Sometimes we have to overcome those little (huge) superstitions just to try it out and see. Simply to take that risk. Because you’ll never get anywhere great in life without making a few risky moves! So enjoy your Friday the 13th’s! I will be watching a comedy tonight, because well, scary movies scare me. So I don’t watch them!
Posted on July 13, 2012, in Music, reasons to laugh, Uncategorized and tagged friday the 13th, inspiration, motivation, music, stevie wonder, superstition. Bookmark the permalink. 49 Comments.
betweenfearandlove 
my brother was born on a friday the 13th he was my parents fourth try at getting a boy so for them fridays the 13th turned out to be a lucky date
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Ha! That is pretty lucky! Glad they got one 🙂
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I not sure if any commenter’s have said any of the things I’m about to but I have a few interesting facts. Any month that starts with a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th as well mirrors giving back luck for seven years was traditionally based on the fact that the average person in Medieval times took 7 years of wages to pay for a mirror. Believing in superstitions… hmm I’m sure there’s some I follow but for the most part I don’t think of them. When I used to be a pipe fitter I used to walk under ladders all the time just because it was convenient… I was laid-off but I don’t attribute it. Anyway luck is what you make of it bad or good, you create your own “Destiny” or what ever you’d like to call it 🙂
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Haha, thanks for the facts! I love good facts! I didn’t realize what the mirror thing was based on, but that makes a lot of sense 🙂
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I love Friday the 13th now. When I was a kid, I wasn’t as accepting of it. I don’t know if I have any superstitions anymore, but I still knock on wood, avoid cracks, and toss salt over my shoulder. Old habits are hard to break.
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Haha, I do knock on wood sometimes! 🙂 They really are hard to break!
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on another note, stevie wonder’s live performance of ‘superstition’ back in 1973 is still by far a personal favourite…! =) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE i just simply love this.
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🙂 fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
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I don’t think I’m very superstitious,but I like to think that there is ritual magic around…
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Hmmm, I like magic. There just something so enticing about it!
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We do have a truck ful of superstitions here in India and my family does have a lot of them . But I never care …I take each day , each moment as extension of a festival that gives you a reason to cheer and celebrate .
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That’s awesome. 🙂 Although, I really like some cultural superstitions, there’s something inviting about them I think. Sort of like a closeness that you don’t find elsewhere. Kind of like Friday the 13th!
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My mom and dad aremwalking encyclopedia of superstitions …. Anyways I always feel that one should enjoy life as it comes , with all it’s spice and color.
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I agree with you 🙂
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I like to think positive, so I see “13” as lucky 🙂
However, there was one bad year when I was in my early 20s — on a Friday the 13th I got fired from a job and that night I totaled my car! I won’t even read my diary from that time period because I certainly don’t want to re-live that nightmare 🙂
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Ha, I think I might have changed my stance on it had that happened! Glad you are okay, and still see 13 as lucky! I hope it was a lucky day for you this time! 🙂
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Many architects design hi-rises without a 13th floor – as if the lack of designation erases the fact that it exists. While they trust their mind’s to fool them for “good” effect, they don’t see how their mind’s fool them for superstition’s sake – weird!
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I know – I think there was a movie about the 13th floor or something… I’m almost positive I remember walking out of it in high school! And some cd’s I have skip the number 13 as well. I kind of enjoy the quirks sometimes (not always), even though you can’t actually make it go away! We all do that with one thing or another, I suppose 🙂
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Love this post! Some superstitions do have a basis in fact. The one about walking under ladders for example. But they are just that, superstitions. If one uses common sense, superstitions don’t have a hold on us, in my opinion. 🙂
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Haha, yes, walking under a ladder probably isn’t a great plan at any time! I’ve seen them fall! Common sense can be hard to come by sometimes 🙂
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Hi! My favorite number is 13, too! I decided when I was 13 that that year was the worst year of my life, but after that, I decided to claim that number for my own, especially after discovering goddess-centered spirituality, in which the number 13 is sacred.
I do have one superstition: I believe that if you talk about something you’re planning to do before you do it, it probably won’t end up happening. Some people accuse me of being secretive, but I prefer to think of it as protective….
Anyway, thanks for liking my recent post on the Joy Report. I love what you are doing here!
Phyllis
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Oh, I love that it is sacred there. I believe there are a few cultures/spiritualities where it is. And I agree, talking about something before doing it really makes it difficult for it to come to fruition. People talk about me being secretive as well. No one knows about the blog, no one knew about my book before I published it. Thank you very much for stopping by here! 🙂
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I was born on a 13th, not a Friday though, and I was always told it was a lucky day as I was a cheerful child. So Ilike any 13th, Friday or not. I think basically if something goes wrong on a Friday 13th people blame it on that. Good excuse really!
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It was clearly a lucky day! Even if it wasn’t a Friday. I think you are right, too about the excuse!
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I’m not superstitious, but just in case, I steered clear of ladders and black cats. I make it a general practice to stay away from mirrors (they make me look older than I feel :))
I don’t watch scary movies, either. I lose enough sleep as it is.
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Haha! good thinking! They (mirrors) do that to me as well. 🙂 I’m glad I’m not alone in the scary movie department. My friends all loved them and tricked me into going to the movies one night saying it was for one movie and really it was for some film that I had to stare at the floor the entire time the movie was playing!
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oh shoot, I didn’t even realize it was Friday the 13th! Oh well, there’s always Saturday the 14th! The new superstition day… 🙂
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Haha, I will keep that in mind for the next saturday the 14th!
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I watched Batman Begins 🙂
I try not to jinx things but sometimes I slip up. The last time was on my Vancouver trip, when I flew from Philly to Portland, OR and I told the woman next to me that I usually have pretty good luck when it comes to baggage.
Sure enough, my bag was delayed and I had to spend $108 on clothes and toiletries…
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I hate when I do that! I try not to jinx myself as well. It makes me crazy when I say something and then it immediately happens. Although if I said, I want a million dollars and someone immediately gave it to me, I wouldn’t turn it down. But jinxes don’t tend to work that way 🙂
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Yeah, but if that ever happened, then you’d be worrying about what the consequences are… like, okay, the universe let me have this million dollars… so I’m waiting for the jinx…
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Oh I’m not waiting for the jinx. I’m putting the money to use 🙂
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LOL!! Off shore bank accounts… the answer to all those million dollar problems… even the jinx won’t reach it there…
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hahaha, exactly!
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I’m not really that superstitious but my boyfriend’s family is and they are always freaking me out with theirs! The one that is probably most present in our daily lives is the “holding your breath while driving by a cemetery at night to keep the dead from sucking out your soul through your breathing”…. I don’t ask… it’s better that way. 😛
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Haha, we didn’t hold our breath by the cemetery, just driving through tunnels. I’m sure that’s what I will think of the next time I pass one though!
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i don’t mind friday the 13th!
David in Maine
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🙂 good to hear!
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none here 🙂
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Well, that’s probably a good thing! I used to have them when it came to sports. I don’t really have any anymore, either 🙂
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that’s great, and that you had good memories of it!
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I had a pretty good day. Now my man is making dinner. What could be better? But superstitions remind me of active memories, which can be the root of many physical as well as emotional illnesses like allergies or phobias. BodyTalk can effectively address these issues!
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🙂 that’s very true!
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Not really superstitious. Great song though, sort of a critique on superstition. I do get upset when the people deem Christianity superstition and faith as superstitious. But there are superstitions. I do refer to bad luck etc, without even realizing it sometimes. Of course I didn’t think it a big deal working in town near the filming of the original Friday 13th. But who knew? It sure did well for them.
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Haha, well I’m glad you didn’t mind! Thanks for stopping and sharing 🙂
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My son was born on Friday the 13th, so it has negated any superstitions I may have had with that date, anyway. Just feel really good about Friday the 13th. 🙂
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🙂 That’s awesome!
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i-Pod screens count as mirrors? Oh no….I don’t really have superstitions – I believe in luck though. If something good happens, to ensure equalibrium in the verse, something bad HAS to happen! But my family is naturally unlucky. Just the other day I tripped over a cat and a cockroach stole my wallet. 😀
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To be fair everyone trips over cats. And You probably should have taken a picture of the roach with your wallet. That’s pretty impressive! Might be fit for the circus. 🙂
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