A Happy, Belated Diwaliween

So I’m a week late but I had to do some learning to touch base on this one. I admit my mind was a little blown that Diwaliween (Diwal’oween – I’ve seen both spellings) was a thing. Partly because so much of Halloween is either candy or just commercialized (look at those costume and accessory prices), and partly because one is meant to be spooky and the other far more uplifting.

But they do overlap a fair bit, originally both being about harvest festivals, consumption of sweets, lights for the coming darker seasons, and some overlap when it comes to charitable acts.

That said, they are tonally very different holidays/celebrations.

And I kind of love it. As someone continually amazed by how profuse modern culture is now that the world is truly a very ‘global’ place, the integration and blending of two things from two very different places is just awesome – literally, in that it’s inspiring.

There’s not really a lot of literature on the overlap of these holidays, and it seems to be a fairly modern occurrence that they’re celebrated on the same day, but hey, it’s gotten some radio coverage, several events being hosted, universities getting in on celebrating and highlighting DEI efforts and plenty of lively discussion on Reddit.

I recommend the radio episode or Reddit if you want to do some reading.

These cross-cultural accidents are one of those things I live for – like a phenomenal book, or hitting some sort of new personal high.

Whether you agree with the shared celebration or not, I hope to see you at the next one. And as we edge closer to winter, I hope that you find light in these shorter days