Halloween is a perfect opportunity to treat yourself and avoid stress

Halloween won’t be the scariest event this year. Stress is everywhere, whether it stems from national security, international crises or the looming threat of midterms and internship applications.

Even the scariest Pennywise costume can’t top the horrors of real life.

So instead of putting on a creepy clown mask, take some time to do what makes you happiest this Halloween. Go out, be responsible and have fun.

Happiness is a radical idea. It’s a classic example of the Millennial buzz word: self-care. Taking time for yourself is especially hard when every week is an unspoken competition for who’s the most overworked and who pulled the most all-nighters.

Dressing up as someone or something other than yourself can be freeing.

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Granted, make sure that your happiness isn’t detrimental to someone else’s well-being.

Now is not the time for a border patrol agent and cultural-stereotype couple’s costume. Your costume shouldn’t inflict further unease and oppression, no matter how cute and clever you think it is.

Now that you’ve found your distinctly 2017 costume, go find a house party, bar or event to let loose. It doesn’t matter if it’s a frat house in seniorland or an RSO event in the Union. If you think it sounds fun, go. You deserve it.

If you think staying in sounds better than going out all night, don’t feel guilty about it. Try canceling party plans and turning off your phone -— it’s a very satisfying break from constant notifications.

There’s nothing quite as nice as a bag of Halloween candy and a scary movie marathon to celebrate the holiday. If life is scary enough right now, watch “Hocus Pocus” or binge-watch the new season of “Stranger Things.” Whatever makes you happy and comfortable works.

Halloween can be about more than a weekend of parties. It’s a good time for mindfulness and relaxation.

Give it a try on a recognized holiday and know the rhetoric is applicable for any free night, or a night that you designate as free for yourself.

Tomorrow, you’ll catch us decked out in our best costumes, and we hope to see you there too — unless you’re staying in, of course.