July 14 is Pandemonium Day, an annual celebration of chaos and disorder
Pandemonium: noun
1. wild and noisy disorder or confusion; uproar.
All hail the forces of chaos! Let the desk be unorganized, turn off the alarms, and let the laundry go unwashed! Throw out your itinerary and pursue the day with wild abandon! Have a course of action? Disrupt it. Walking along the pier and have a sudden desire to jump in the water?
Do it! Randomly decide that purple and neon green are perfectly complementary colors? Wear them! Pandemonium day is dedicated to the unexpected, if you live a typically organized and well-ordered life, celebrate some serious Pandemonium!
The word ‘pandemonium’ first came about in the 17th century. It was used in the poem ‘Paradise Lost’ by the author John Milton. This is one of the most famous and brilliant pieces of poetry. It re-tells the biblical story of Adam and Eve, and how they are tempted by Satan.
Pandemonium is a hybrid of the Greek word ‘pan’ and the Latin word ‘daemonium’. Pan means ‘all’ and diammonium means ‘devil.’ Pandemonium is the capital of Hell in the poem Paradise Lost. it is where all of the demons reside. Of course, when it is used in the modern-day, it does not have such frightening implications. Instead, it stands for all things that are unpredictable, disorganized, and chaotic.
Pandemonium Day has been designed to help you to get your life back. If you feel like your life is too predictable, boring, scheduled, and orderly, then this is the day for you to throw the rulebook out of the window and do something that you have always wanted to do.
After all, most people have experienced those moments whereby they have felt like they have really wanted to do something but it is “too crazy” for them. Pandemonium Day is designed so that you have a day that you can go ahead and do those things anyway. You can rid yourself of expectations, cancel your appointments, throw your itinerary out of the window, and live life in the fast lane for once.
Pandemonium day was established to help free us from all the stuffiness that comes with living a life too ordered, a schedule to set. There’s a term called “landing in a rut” and when you’re doing the same thing day in and day out, without any variance or change, and that’s the path to a deathbed lined with regrets.
Instead, you need a little pandemonium in your life, random madness, and spontaneous acts that will bring about great adventures, experiences, and memories you can cradle and share your whole life.
Pandemonium Day tells you it’s alright to be wild, to be crazy, to get out there and tear up the world. Don’t think that you have to behave according to the same rules someone else lives their life by. Sure, obey the law, don’t mess with someone else’s life, but don’t think that anyone has the right to tell you who you are or how to celebrate your own uniqueness.
Get out there and follow your impulses, engage your inner child who didn’t know what ‘appropriate’ meant, and run through the fields with your heart wild and free. Indulge in the very essence of Pandemonium!