Halloween has never really been my thing. Even as a kid, I was far more interested in the candy than the costume. As an adult, I’m about the same. If I’m invited to a party where dressing up is required, I’ll put in a little effort, but nobody is going to mistake me for someone who spent weeks planning. Still, I enjoy the parties, the friends, and, of course, the candy. Some things never change.
Golf is another activity I have a love-hate relationship with. I’m not particularly good, and I’ve been playing long enough that I probably should be. I’ll hit a terrible shot, get frustrated, and wonder why I keep doing this to myself. Then I’ll hit one beautiful shot, exactly where I intended, and suddenly I’m ready to book another round. Add the conversations and the laughs, and even when my score suggests I should find another hobby, I usually leave having enjoyed myself.
The funny thing is, I don’t have to enjoy every part of an experience to enjoy it. I don’t need to love costumes to enjoy Halloween, any more than I need to be a good golfer to enjoy golf. Yet I wonder how often we forget that. Somewhere along the way, we started putting conditions on our enjoyment. We want to be good at it, get better at it, or at least have something to show for the time. And when we don’t, we quietly question whether the time was well spent.
Our free time has become something to manage. We take up hobbies and track our progress. We go on vacation and feel compelled to see everything, posting pictures along the way to show everyone what a great time we’re having. We turn relaxation into another item on the to-do list. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve or make the most of our time. But when did “because it’s fun” stop feeling like a good enough reason?
Maybe that’s one of the things I appreciate about Halloween, even if I’m not much for costumes. For one evening, grown adults put on ridiculous costumes, gather with friends, laugh at themselves, and accomplish absolutely nothing. Nobody becomes a better person because they dressed up as a pirate. Nobody gets promoted for having the most creative costume. They do it for no other reason than to have a good time.
I don’t expect to become a Halloween enthusiast anytime soon, and my golf game probably isn’t going to improve dramatically either. But I’ll keep showing up for the parts that make me smile. Maybe the question isn’t what we got out of something, but when we started needing to.
“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” – Lin Yutang
And if there’s candy involved, that’s just a bonus.
Happy Halloween.
-Vijay