The many masks of Halloween

Halloween has to be one of the more fascinating holidays, right? People start planning their costumes months in advance, after carefully thinking about their ‘look’ for the evening. I get the appeal, I do. There are a lot of fun aspects to Halloween. The candy, the costumes, the haunted houses, escape rooms, the decorations, the horror films. Lots of scares. Lots to love (Maybe not for me exactly, but I’m a poor poster girl for most horror-related fun anyway)

I have to say, the most interesting part for me has got to be the costumes, especially the masks. Wearing a mask is like dipping your toes into the Halloween fun. It’s probably the most basic way you can participate in the holiday, even from a distance. Hell, buy one in advance, and you don’t even need to leave your house on the run-up to Halloween.

 Score one for the lazy celebrators out there. Just pop on your mask, curl up with a good murder mystery novel or a horror film, and bam! You’ve officially joined in on the Halloween fun. (I may or may not be one of you :P)

But the best thing about Halloween is the fact that at the end of the night, everyone gets to peel off their costume and wipe away the makeup. Every mask comes off, and that’s that. Until next year, no more masks. No more tricks. No more pretending.

Or so we say.

If you think about it, isn’t that the most laughable thing you’ve ever heard of? C’mon now, the masks never really come off. If anything, all we do is trade one for the other. If it’s a sad day, but you aren’t feeling all that sad, you know you’ve got to mask your joy and dress the part. If it’s a party, but you’re having a bad day, it’s fine. Wallow in sadness and self-pity.

Just don’t forget to put on your mask first.

Now keep going. Put on one for your friend who seems to have changed overnight, one for the one who lies all the time. One for your neighbor, who doesn’t need to know too much about a personal matter. One for work and oftentimes, yet another one for home.

Pause for a brief break as you pass a stranger on the street(they don’t realize it, but they are probably one of the few people who to see the real you) Until you reach your next destination, that is. And then on we go again!

 So even if you think you’ve skipped this holiday, think again.

That’s why it’s pretty amusing, that people go to great lengths on Halloween to prove they can be scary. They go through all that trouble to step into the skin of come character for a day. When in actuality, it doesn’t matter whether you don an elaborate costume or a creepy mask, it’s all good.

No, it really is. Your costume is fantastic, just because it comes off at the end of the night.

Now, if only, there was a way, to take those other masks off and give them a rest, if only for a day.