Last week I was exchanging the usual banter with my two-year-old cousin when I said something along the lines of, “are you silly?” to which she responded, “no, me Minnie Mouse.”

For the record, her name is Gracelyn.

Continuing our conversation, I corrected her by saying, “you mean you’ll be wearing your Minnie Mouse costume for Halloween?”

Being the persistent little lady that she is, she replied, “no, ME Minnie Mouse.”

The innocence and imagination of children never ceases to amaze me. To Gracelyn, dressing up in a costume is not enough. She becomes the character, speaking in her squeaky voice and acting as her favorite character does.

Tomorrow night, people all over the country will join Gracelyn in vacating their own personas as they become entirely new characters.

It always surprises me how many people — adults included — are so eager to shed their own skin and take on another’s during Halloween. To me, it shows that we as humans are curious about what is like to be another person (or character), if only for a night.

I wonder, then, how different life would be if we took this interest into consideration more often. Would we be more patient with others or less quick to get angry if we tried to understand what it is like to walk in another person’s shoes?

This may sound like a stretch. I understand that most adults don’t try to get into character when they are in a Halloween costume and are more interested in a change of wardrobe for an evening. But what if we all approached life like a two-year-old does and really tried to get inside another person’s skin?

Would we judge people less? Would we have a better appreciation for others’ circumstances? Would we make different decisions when deciding how to respond to people if we thought about the reasons why they interact the way they do?

Maybe we would, maybe we wouldn’t.

As you put on your costumes this weekend, you might try to take Gracelyn’s approach and become whatever character your outfit is representing. And the next time you’re in a difficult situation or having a disagreement with someone, try it out again.

It’s amazing the lessons that we can learn from a toddler.

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.