Spooky season is not my favorite time of year

I’m not a Halloween fan.

I don’t like being scared. Don’t bother arguing that simple skeletons, black cats and fake graveyards aren’t scary; I’m not convinced.

I don’t like running around in the dark taking food from strangers and candy corn is one of my least favorite foods. Even what people refer to as “just fun”, like watching The Addams Family or carving pumpkins just doesn’t appeal to me.

Call me crazy, but I like fall more without Halloween. 

Everyone has what they like or don’t like. I find that my avid dislike of spooky season is very unpopular (not that I care all that much about everyone’s opinion). Halloween seems to have grown in popularity over the years, at least since I can remember being a kid, and all Halloween consisted of was dressing up and running around the neighborhood getting treats from the neighbors.

I haven’t found many people out there who just don’t care for Halloween. I’ve met plenty of people who dislike Thanksgiving or Christmas or Valentine’s Day, but hardly anyone dislikes Halloween.

I don’t mind being in the minority.

The entire world seems to have an opinion. How you should act, think, talk, dress, what to eat, how to believe. It’s like a million screaming voices that have their own say on what people should and should not do.

This is easily overwhelming and frustrating. For us college students, we are just trying to figure out how to be our own person, surviving homework and jobs and other day-to-day activities that we never had to do before we became adults, many of us away from home for the first time.

Throw the opinions of the world on top of that, and it’s just about all we can take.

I find it strange, really, how the entire world tells you to “be your best self” or “be unique” and then gives us norms to follow. How are you supposed to “be your own person” if you are told you should follow the crowd, even if not in so many words.

For example: horror movies are popular. Watching them is a “normal” thing to do, especially in October. I have no desire to watch one, whatsoever. People think I’m crazy because I’ve never seen one. They can try all they want to convince me to watch just one, but I really don’t want to. The argument that “I don’t know I won’t like until I try it” doesn’t always apply. Sometimes “I don’t want to” can be an answer and we can leave it at that.

This concept doesn’t just apply to likes or dislikes. It can be not wanting to party or drink, even though it’s basically written into the code of being a college student. I might be not jumping on the latest fad diet or voting for the “more popular” candidate. 

It’s hard to “be yourself” when society tells you conflicting messages. Don’t pretend to be someone else just to be “more liked”. It’s a lesson we were taught as kids, and it still applies now. If you want to go to bed at eight-thirty, then do it. If you want to spend your Saturday morning at the gym, go for it. If you dislike coffee, don’t drink it. Above all, don’t worry about what is “normal”. “Normal” is a relative term.

I don’t have to like Halloween to fit in with everyone else. I’ll use this time to enjoy everything else fall has to offer.