Tip of the Week: Halloween = Acceptance

Oct 30, 2024

3 min read

When I was a teenager, back in the late 70’s, there was a big hoopla in our small town. Ozzy Osbourne was coming to our town for a concert. This is the same year that he supposedly bit the head off of a bat. Well, the newspapers were writing scary stories about Ozzy (true or not?) and trying to scare people about his upcoming concert. Of course, my Memaw was intrigued. Would I take her to the concert so she could see what all the chaos was about? Of course I didn’t. Not that I wasn’t an Ozzy/Black Sabbath fan but I knew what type of people went to these concerts. I didn’t want a Memwaw who was high from second-hand smoke and had the munchies:) She was disappointed but she understood.

People love to be scared. Ozzy and his band knew this. It is also probably why Halloween is so popular. Between haunted houses, Fright Fests, and scary movies, people can live in fear as long as they want. I, however, do not like to be scared. I think life is scary enough. I barely can watch the movie “Practical Magic” much less watch something like “It”. Having fear is just not my thing but many enjoy it and also enjoy Halloween.

However, Halloween has another theme to it. Right now, you are probably getting ready for trick-or-treaters. Children dress up like Princesses, Zombies, Avengers, Darth Vaders, Beetlejuice, Cowboys and Cowgirls, Witches, Flos from Progressive, and even Taylor Swifts, and they are coming to our door. Most people like to have the children come: we leave the lights on, the front door open, and the candy bowl next to the door. We are excited to see them all dressed up, try to guess what they are, and hand out the candy to them. Even toward the end of the trick-or-treat hours and we start to see the teenagers (some dressed up, some not), we still hand out candy to them. After all, we rather have them go around and get candy instead of doing something else on Halloween and get into trouble!

Why do we indulge in this tradition? Why are we excited to see everyone dressed differently and even reward them with candy, treats, or coupons from McDonalds? Why is it the only time of year we finally understand and participate in a one true quality we are happy to have within us?

Why do we accept everyone?

Halloween is not a holiday that is supposed to bring out the best in everyone like other holidays. For Thanksgiving, we tend to give more and be thankful. Christmas is about loving our family and forgiveness. We even get patriotic on the 4th of July. But Halloween? No good qualities come out–just be scared in a safe environment. But wait! Think about it. It is the one time of the year when we accept everyone. We WANT strangers to come to our house. We want them to be dressed differently from everyone else. We want them to ask to be rewarded for that difference. And we don’t look at them strangely. We don’t start sentences with “Those people…”. We literally don’t judge. For a few hours, once a year, we are the people we want to be. We accept everyone, no matter what.

No matter what.

I don’t think I am saying anything that anyone would dispute. It is our tradition and most people engage in it. Even in our societal climate right now where everyone is fighting with everyone and all we want to do is run into our house, slam the door, and lock it. Where you hear celebrity people make fun of and condemn other people because of their race or religion. Where hate crime is on the rise. Where we see how despicable people treat each other during war. Through all of that, we still leave the light on, door open, and hand out the treats to all these lovely individuals.

What if we did that all the time?

I don’t mean leaving our front door open all evening, but maybe have our hearts open? Maybe have our minds open, thinking about others, trying to understand what they are going through? Maybe not only accepting the children, but also the teenagers, and the adults who raised all of them. What if we accepted every stranger we meet as we would the trick-or-treaters on Halloween? What if we accepted people who we don’t directly meet?

Maybe as you are passing out all those treats this year, think about what is in your heart right then and there. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that same feeling of joy, of acceptance, towards everyone all year long? Just a thought…

Have a safe and wonderful Halloween.

Bonus: Tip of the Week #2: Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday. It really does matter!