The Often Ignored Super-Treat of Halloween

Is Halloween an important holiday? Is it special to you? Do you look forward to October 31st every year?

I do, and not for the candy. To me, Halloween represents much more than treats and tricksters. It’s more than fancy pumpkins and warm apple cider. It’s bigger than ghouls and grimm. Those elements add a nice flare (to say nothing of commercial value). But the often ignored super-treat of Halloween is grander and sweeter indeed…

The opportunity to indulge in our childlike spirit.

Make no mistake: Halloween is as much for grown-ups as for children, probably more so. Conditioned to fit in to conventional models, Halloween for many is the one-day allowance to stand out and be a bit crazy. Here’s the real trick though, the silliness is sincere. The conformity is the true costume.

Halloween celebrates the rambunctious and ridiculous, the original and outlandish. While Halloween’s historical origins are what they are, the modern context is one of vivid playfulness. It’s that content that makes this holiday matter.

From office parties to college rituals to neighborhood gatherings, grown-ups (and those growing up) rightly exploit Halloween to their inner child’s delight. Rules are few and better phrased as guidelines. Creativity is encouraged. Fun is the only mandate.

True, wild parties aren’t everyone’s fancy (truth be told, not mine either). Thankfully, such festivities are merely a thin slice of all Halloween is and offers. Options are endless. Most parents, for example, gain great joy by living vicariously through their little children masquerading as little monsters or mini-superheroes. Many more dress-up along with them, as monsters or heroes alike.

Then there’s the decorations. A free-economy boon, these spooky garnishes are widely adored. Some apply them to their own homes in the hopes of winning the neighborhood’s claim of scariest haunt. Others sprinkle them around their desk. Others still devise elaborate fright factories where willing patrons love getting their wits scared out of them.

Halloween fun can be taken quite seriously it would seem. We should be grateful that it is. For without Halloween, how else would many of us exercise our Big Kid willfulness?

Happy Halloween!