But honestly, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. In fact, it might be my least favorite holiday that anyone actually celebrates. And it's not that I'm completely, 100% averse to Halloween festivities. In Virginia my roommate Jenny and I co-planned a big Halloween party at our house that was a massive success, with donuts on a string and wacky costumes and all. Back in Provo at the House on Stilts, we did a Halloweenish group date with cider and donuts and a scavenger hunt or something. Last year my friend Sara and I got people together to go to a haunted hay ride. I actually like that Halloween provides an excuse for out-of-the-norm activities, which I enjoy. But I just don't get excited about Halloween as a season or as a holiday.
What I really don't like is dressing up. There are a number of reasons for this. At the Halloween party, Chalsea (who sold out and bought a cape) stated that she just felt like if she were to dress up, she'd feel pressure to have a really good costume, and I thought maybe that was part of it for me, too. Just like when I give talks in church (look! a gospel-Halloween analogy!) I always feel like I have to give some unique twist on my assigned topic, so too I feel like when I dress up I have to do something that no one has ever thought of before, to wear the kind of costume that will make people say, "wow, that's a really creative costume!" I don't have that kind of creativity in me year after year. If you add in the pumpkin carving as well, Halloween can be a very high-pressure holiday for a creative high-achiever.
It also has something to do with the fact that I don't like to stand out in a crowd. This makes Halloween a lose-lose situation because on Halloween no one looks anything like anyone else (unless, say, they dress up as one of their friends), and therefore everyone stands out. Which ought to mean that no one stands out (you know, "when everyone's super, no one is"), but that somehow doesn't work for Halloween. So if I wear a costume, I stand out, and if I don't wear a costume, I stand out because I'm the only one not wearing a costume.
My sister might suggest, with more than a hint of disdain, that I just think I'm "too cool" to dress up. This is not true. Not dressing up on Halloween makes you incredibly lame, and I know this. This weekend I went to our ward Halloween dance with what I thought was a great non-costume (thanks to Jonathan for the idea and for his non-dressing-up solidarity), but all I got were funny looks from everyone except Stephanie R. (the only person, even among other Office watchers, who got my costume), and even a couple chilly stares for having a "cop-out" costume. We non-dressers-up can become very socially isolated as a consequence of standing up for our principles.
I'm sure I will regain some of the wonder of Halloween when I have little kids to dress up and cart around the neighborhood trick-or-treating (at least for the first few years), but for now it's just not my thing. So this Halloween...or next, since this Halloween will be over by the time this posts...I just ask the majority to have a little understanding for those of us in the minority.
Stay tuned for Halloween Part II in which I talk about what I did like about Halloween this year...
6 comments:
Great post! I enjoyed myself thoroughly last night, once I got over the stares. The committee threw a great party! In the future, though, I promise to attend Halloween parties only if I wear a costume... Yes, there is an implication in that statement.
Thanks for the reference to my costume:) I, like you, have no burning, passionate love for Halloween. I was reminded on Wednesday when I volunteered at a haunted house and saw little kids crying from fear why I am not a big fan. But it does have its nostalgic moments.
When I was a child, I LOVED Halloween. As a parent, it became one of the most dreaded holidays. Now days there is such pressure on parents. The costumes just keep getting more elaborate and if your kid is the one wearing the plastic mask from KMart...well you get the idea. Multiply that by 4 kids--it was tough. Now as an oldie, I like it again because it's the gateway to Thanksgiving and Christmas and there's no pressure, especially when NOBODY comes trick or treating for the second year in a row. Now, what to do with all those candy bars that you have to buy just in case? Dang!!
We have always enjoyed fall and Halloween is in the fall. Our house is decorated with fall colors, we will now have to remove the jack-o-laterns and leave the uncut pumpkins. I think we all go through the ups and downs of costumes - It has been a while for us to dress up. Not during Halloween we have had a party with the theme of the ugiest shoes and another the ugiest shirt. It sounds you have a great group that you have fun with.
I'm not a huge Halloween fan either. I think it's because Halloween in the US has no meaning, doesn't make us reflect upon anything. It just IS. It can be fun, though, and like you, I'll probably appreciate it more when I have kids to dress up and trick-or-treat with.
"Halloween can be a very high-pressure holiday for a creative high-achiever."
When you put it that way, I can understand why you wouldn't like the holiday. On the other hand, I think that's why I like Halloween so much: it gives me an outlet to be creative that other holidays - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day - don't provide.
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