Party Is Over

You know the feeling. We’ve all been there. It’s a Saturday afternoon, there are no clouds in the sky and you are happily chilling in your living room. You have nothing to do and it feels so good. Suddenly, one tiny little thought tiptoes from a remote place and shows up in your mind. He smiles and waves at you. “What do you want?” You ask him, rolling your eyes. And before you know it, his pals arrive. Like, a lot of them. What a popular fellow. And you didn’t even know you were hosting a party! Here they come high school pals, university pals, pen pals, work pals, gym pals... You name it. A whole bunch of thoughts join him and start racing like crazy.

They seem to be having fun. Let me tell you a secret. They’re rushing to catch a train! A high-speed train that will bring them to this intriguing and mind-blowing party. This train is so cool that constantly encourages new passengers to hop on. They don’t even need a ticket! It’s like the wild wild west. A riot louder than 99 ambulances together.

They all secretly hate silence (and peace of mind) and that’s why they’re here: to fill it up. And quickly! But wait. Fill it up with what exactly, you must be wondering. Well... Anything really. No terms or conditions apply here. Positive things, negative things, speculations, hypothesis, associations, deviations, dreams, nightmares, worries, tribulations, over generalizations… They all fuel each other. They can’t miss the epic party. They were born to be loud. Unbearably loud.

Unfortunately, their expectations will crash sooner or later when they realize that the train is driving in a loop. There’s no party, my friends. There never was. Those poor little things will be trapped in this crazy train forever until you… Yes, you… Pull the break and tell them it’s time to go back home. And end the suffering. And how can you do that? Here’s a list of ideas to get you started:

1. Practice times tables. Write them down on a notebook, your hand, your legs, on the wall...
2. Shake your sillies out. (Have a specific playlist ready for the occasion.)
3. Write all the numbers from 1 to 100 with your non-dominant hand.
4. Schedule 10 minutes during your day to overthink like a pro (and stick to it).
5. Have a conversation with your pet (or offer to walk your neighbour's dog, cat or lizard).
6. Hoover like there’s no tomorrow (or like the agency is unexpectedly coming to check your flat).
7. Read out loud and put on your own show. Make Shakespeare proud!
8. Hop on one foot and (try to) say the alphabet backwards.
9. Sing your heart out (until the neighbours from downstairs beat the ceiling with a broom).
10. Chop some carrots in the tiniest cubes humanly possible. (Then cook something nice with it. You’re not going to waste a work of art!)
11. Watch a video in a foreign language (without subtitles) and try your best to understand something, anything.
12. Install a random game on your phone and try to reach the highest level possible within 30 minutes.
13. Organize your medicines by a category of your choice (colour, flavour, consistency, purpose…) and dispose of the ones which are out of date.
14. Iron out the wrinkles of napkins, sheets, curtains... anything you find in your flat.
15. Deep clean the "downloads" folder on your laptop—any other messy folder also applies. If your super tidy laptop already makes Marie Kondo proud, clean and organize a drawer, or a wardrobe if you’re in the mood for good fun.