Blog Post #3 - Dying Traditions (pun intended)

     

        A tradition that has been around in European culture for centuries is Halloween. Halloween is rooted from the feast of All Hallow's Evening, which celebrated all of the dead saints of the Catholic Church. Now, it has been modernized to kids of all ages in costumes roaming the streets in their neighborhoods, gathering candy from their neighbors and family members.
     
         I don't only love Halloween for the history behind it, but I also feel like the haunted houses and the aspect of celebrating dead people makes it exciting. The tradition of carving pumpkins and taking walks out in the crisp, fall air relax me and the leaves are beautiful shades of red, yellow, and brown.

        Obviously, Halloween is a very old tradition, but it's very beautiful and celebrated on a global scale. There may be other ways of celebrating this holiday, but it is in no way less important. I'm glad that humanity can keep a tradition going for so long. The downfall of celebrating a tradition that has been celebrated for centuries is that we lose the meaning of it. Then, we begin to make the holiday materialistic and unappreciated.

        I wish that Halloween was the way it used to be. I used to get so excited to dress up and walk around my small town and enjoy seeing whatever anyone else is wearing. It wasn't even about the candy for me, even though that was a good bonus. I liked seeing the intricate details to everyone else's costumes, and I especially liked it when I was able to see the really cool decorations on the houses in the neighborhood. My mom would always walk with me and encourage me to introduce myself and tell people who I was dressed as. This was also a good time to gain confidence in myself and talk to new people and potentially make new friends.
 
        I also used to love going to haunted houses (even though I usually could never finish them). I really enjoy them now, and I usually end up laughing through the whole thing. Another tradition that I love about Halloween is the marathon of scary movies on T.V. and making fun of the really dumb ones with my best friends.

        Every year, I feel as if Halloween is slipping away and being tossed aside for things "more important". I always found this holiday fun and exciting for the whole family, but as I get older, I see myself go out less and less for Halloween and I never go costume shopping anymore.  I haven't carved a pumpkin in maybe 7 years because I never go to pumpkin patches or fall festivals.

       I want to keep this tradition the same throughout my whole life because if we don't keep it alive as a society, we'll lose a part of history. I want to make it a priority to keep celebrating Halloween not only for me, but for generations to come so they can enjoy it as much as I do.