costumes & candy
‘Three Reasons to Love Halloween’
letter.04 OCT. 31/2021 -
‘Play is the work of childhood’ - Fred Rogers
KNOCK KNOCK
Trick or Treat!
Today is Halloween.
Halloween was a little darker when I was a kid. The Devil’s day. Darkness. Evil. Demons lurking on the shadowy streets. My folks let us trick-or-treat. But on friendly terms. Happy costumes. ‘Dress-up’ as my mom would say. It was perfect and I loved it. Just enough scared. Lots of candy.
There’s a lot to love about Halloween. Here are my top three things.
1. Kids First
Halloween is one of the few holidays and/or celebrations that puts kids first. ‘Now, hold a second Mr! You have no idea how much I spend on my kids at Christmas!’ I know. I know. We spend literal wheelbarrows of coin on our kids at Christmas. Then we dole out baskets of chocolate at Easter. We’ve got summer vacation and birthdays and other kids’ birthdays and all the rest. I get it. BUT. Halloween isn’t a celebration of individual children - it is a celebration of childhood. Halloween permits, nay (!) encourages kids of all ages to use their imaginations to create characters and storylines, make costumes, and join their friends for fun. Cars quiet. Strangers welcome the invasion. And the streets are filled with community fun. Come October 31 kids are the top priority.
2. Community First
When was the last time you invited your entire neighbourhood over to celebrate with play, food, and merriment? I’ll answer: a year ago to the day (that is - if you hand out candy on October 31!) Halloween’s kids-first generosity extends far beyond the basic dress-up-and-candy routine. Think of it. The entire neighbourhood - or would-be strangers - come together and buy millions and billions of dollars worth of candies, unlock their doors, light their porches with pumpkins, and invite throngs of children and families to their door so they can give stuff away for free! Parent’s dress-up. Businesses extend their hours. Halloween is one of the purest community events of the year. A beautiful display of playfulness if there ever was one.
3. Collaborative Play
The underbelly to Halloween’s night of horror isn’t the devil but something far more basic - play:
Play is the work of children. It consists of those activities performed for self-amusement that have behavioural, social, and psychomotor rewards. It is child-directed, and the rewards come from within the individual child; it is enjoyable and spontaneous.
[Play. Encyclopedia of Children’s Health. (http://www.healthofchildren.com/P/Play.html#ixzz7AsKUYhkn)]
At the root of the experience, Halloween is all about play. Individual and cooperative play. Spontaneous. Enjoyably. Good-natured fun. Think of it. Halloween is inventive and creative. It requires imagination and innovation. It requires the sharing of beliefs, values, and the co-structuring of worlds. It’s the stuff of childhood. Work-as-playing. Playing-as-work. Halloween draws play out of us - even in those who think ‘I’m too old to play!’ Just watch those preteens on your street tonight. How many of them still ‘play’ together? How many still rush out for recess as imaginary horses or wizards to play with their friends on the playground? I daresay - regretfully - none! But for Halloween to work it requires the old and young to play. Intricate cross-pollinating cooperative play. And it’s beautiful.
So on this spookily night of nights, take off that adult costume and let your inner kid play! Join the fun. Enjoy the community. Enter the worlds and universes around you.
And of course, indulge in CANDY!
your haunting friend,
-amos
