As children, we view the world through rose-colored glasses. Everything is new, everything is fun, and whatever’s wrong in the moment would usually be gone by the time we opened up our eyes the next morning. We raided our parents' closets to play dress up because we couldn’t wait to get older.
It’s hard not to become jaded as adults, when our biggest problems are no longer what we’re going to wear to school or not getting a valentine from our first crush on Valentine’s day. As we grow older we realize that the world isn’t as nice as we thought it was. We’ve had to learn many things the hard way, through mistakes or pain. We’ve missed big opportunities or haven’t been offered the opportunities we felt we deserved.
Apparently, with every passing year, it’s less and less socially appropriate to dress up for Halloween. My roommate and I were bonding over the fact that we wanted to do awesome costumes in our last years of college because we knew these were our last few years of being able to dress up for the holiday.
Halloween has always been a highlight of my year. When I was in elementary school, it was because of the candy. When I got to middle school, it was because of meeting new people and having shaving cream fights. Halloween in high school meant dressing up in costumes that made me feel confident in myself for the first time. They meant feeling old enough to go out to parties on my own and also having the choice to leave to go trick or treating (so I could eat candy until I got cavities or my stomach hurt).
Halloween in college is just as fun as it was as a child. The trick or treating is replaced by Halloween themed events, going over each other’s apartments to watch scary movies, and moving from party to party on campus seeing everyone I love. Even though I have to buy my own candy, I’ll take it.
However, once you leave college, everyone seems to think you’re not allowed to dress up and have fun anymore. But why not? What’s the harm in having a night to be someone else? To paint your face, think of an awesome costume, and show your creativity? As kids we dressed up as adults, so I think it's only fair that hard-working adults have one night where they can pretend they're kids again. I don't know who ruled it inappropriate to have a night where we stop letting all the burdens of adulthood cloud our ability to have fun, but I'll always advocate for keeping a little piece of childhood in our hearts.
The world may not be as easy as we once thought it was, but it doesn’t mean we can’t make it fun.
