chapter 19: how to keep things special
crying because halloween is over but smiling because it happened
On a crisp fall evening walk this week, I was admiring everyone’s Halloween decorations.
As you can see, the residents of Park Slope don’t do anything halfway. Give me 10-foot skeletons scaling the brownstones or give me death!
Halloween is over now, obviously. It’s never been my favorite holiday, but thinking about the time-consuming process of putting everything up, only to take it back down again a month later, made me sad. Why can’t everyone leave their Halloween decor up just a little longer?
It doesn’t surprise me that people latch onto fall with such ferocity. The season is fleeting, as are its festivities. So, we have to enjoy it while we can. Even though we make fun of Starbucks for releasing their fall drink lineup halfway through August, they have the right idea. Enjoy the fall while it’s here!
But if Park Slope were covered in cobwebs all year, I probably wouldn’t do a double-take. Instead of striking me, the decorations would be ordinary; no longer the kind of thing I would make a detour just to see.
The truth is: things stop being special if we do them all the time.
Whether it’s Halloween decorations or going out to eat, normalizing things strips them of their novelty. And as humans, we love novelty. From the seasons to trying a new food or moving to a new apartment, change excites us. Even if we don’t like it, change is stimulating, and we LOVE stimulation - even when it begets chaos.
It’s what leaves me so suspicious of routine; so reticent to try and smash my life into a repetitive, everyday-the-same kind of rhythm. Because as stress-free and orderly as that sounds, routinizing your life makes everything a little lackluster.
Because my schedule so often devolves into chaos, I’m prone to consuming videos on how to optimize my days. From intense morning routines to time blocking and other productivity hacks, all I was doing was making myself miserable…and, frankly, making my days so boring.
After watching hundreds of TikToks and many, many Youtubers, I’ve determined the only “self-help” videos worth watching are by this guy (the one I wrote about a few weeks ago).
Even if you think your ideal life looks a certain, cookie-cutter way, I promise it doesn’t. Such an intense routine might be good for productivity, but it’s horrible for enjoyment. Everything is the same, so nothing is special. When you look back on a month to see what you did, you’ll see your habit tracker ticked off, but you won’t have many sweet moments or impactful memories.
While a little routine is good for us, living so strictly can’t bring real enjoyment. And what is the point of a perfectly productive life if it makes us miserable?
Even if special things are fleeting, don’t worry.
Halloween will always come around next year!
Until next week,
Madz
I am smiling because Halloween is over and crying because I had to spend $40 in candy!! I can not wait for your Christmas letter! :)