Pandemonium Day
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I recently became aware that July 14 is Pandemonium Day (who knew?) But when I read the point behind this unofficial holiday, I thought this is something I can get behind. There are different ways to acknowledge and celebrate this day, all of which are worth exploring.
One way is to simply embrace the chaos of life. If the past few months have taught us anything, it is that chaos is an inevitable part of existence. Sometimes the universe blows up your plans and disrupts all the order you have carefully created in your life. It is important to realize that this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is unpleasant to our egos who want to control things and want everything in its right place, but chaos is actually part of the natural order of things. Nature is constantly demonstrating this through weather patterns, for example. And if you’ve ever spent time in a household with small children, you know that you have to roll with the chaos in order to make it through. Certainly there is nothing like a pandemic to upset the order of society, and illness itself brings chaos to the ordered functioning of the body.
Not only is chaos inevitable, it serves a purpose. It is a necessary disruptor; without it, things become stagnant or rigid. Whatever horrors and losses have come from this pandemic, many people have made enormous shifts in their lives. For many, it was the force that led to the necessary change they had been procrastinating or fearing. For others, it has exploded their comfortable, complacent realities and opened up their minds to a re-evaluation of their lives. And it is no accident that a new wave of social justice actions for Black Americans has emerged from this event. Often our inclination is to try and cling to the old order, but Pandemonium Day invites us to let go of that, embrace the chaos of shifting elements, and see what comes out of it. What gifts might be emerging from the upheaval in your life right now?
Pandemonium Day asks us to look at our relationship to both chaos and order. There are many ways to take advantage of this vantage point. For example, are you just sick of picking up your loved ones’ clothes off the floor? On July 14, don’t do it. Leave the clothes on the floor, let them be there in all their soiled mess. Let the sink fill up with dishes. Sleep in and forego your mandatory morning run. Cancel all your meetings. For many of us, our lives have turned into one big collection of schedules and tasks. It’s exhausting and it’s no fun.
Pandemonium Day gives us permission to be messy, imperfect, lazy and wild. Underneath our rigid schedules and routines, each of us still has a child who just wants to run free. Embrace that side of yourself. We need a certain amount of chaos to balance out the order of our lives. This holiday offers an opportunity to step back from the structures we have created for ourselves and ask if they are still working for us. Or do some need to be let go of or re-evaluated? Also, can we relax around these structures, be more flexible within them? Because change is constant, let it happen and then readjust and reorder.
Invite others to celebrate Pandemonium Day with you. When it feels like things are falling apart, it helps to have someone on the journey with you for support and to share a laugh at the absurdity of it all. Celebrate by being spontaneous and unpredictable together. Go crazy with confetti. Dance with abandon. Get in the car and drive; see where the road takes you. Sharing random experiences is a great way to bond and create wonderful memories.
For some people an excess of order and rigidity is not the problem; the opposite is true. If you feel like your life is always out of control, dramas are erupting, and you can’t get a grip, then that requires a different approach. Are there people in your life who create drama? Is there a part of you that believes that life would be boring without it? The problem is that constantly living on the edge is exhausting and erodes your physical and emotional health. So perhaps there are small changes that could be made that could add some order and calm without taking all the excitement away. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Again, we are looking for a healthy balance. Take a moment to reflect on what small things you could let go of that might be adding stress or chaos to your life. Perhaps you have to say no to more things or spend less time with high maintenance individuals.
All in all, Pandemonium Day gives us the opportunity to liberate ourselves from the struggle of trying to hold it all together. For one day we can free ourselves from the constraints of our daily lives and enjoy a day free from obligation and duty. This holiday is an invitation to shake things up enough to get a fresh perspective on life. So go a little crazy!