Reflections on letting loose

One day we will all die but until then, we live. We might as well have a blast while at it. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA

What you need to know:

  • The first one was great and the second one came with an even bigger bounce. It is the third one that sent me and my entire several kilogrammes crashing down with a resounding thud.
  • The bed hinges succumbed to pressure and simply gave in.

A few days after moving out and finally settling in my crib, my brand new bed broke.

I attempted to fix it but it came tumbling down smack in the middle of the night. Two days of that and I couldn’t take it anymore so I called a carpenter to come and fix the bed. He inspected the bed with a puzzled look on his face.

“Hmmmm…interesting, the hinges gave and the side planks are split. How did this happen?” he inquired as he took out his work tools.  I shrugged my shoulders and said nonchalantly, “It is quite puzzling. This bed is barely a week old.”

POOR QUALITY OF WOOD

He speculated that the quality of the wood may have been the main problem and I agreed with him hastily as I busied myself with house chores. He had to replace the planks on both sides of the bed and when by the time the job was done, I parted with Sh3, 000. It stung and I guess the pain showed on my face because he smiled at me reassuringly and said, “Madam, cheap is expensive. Next time be keen on the timber you go for and here is my card for when you need quality furniture.”

In the spirit of this article—of letting loose vulnerably—let me come clean on what happened to the bed because there really was no mystery to it.

BED BURPEES                

Two days after hugging my parents goodbye and starting out life as a lone ranger, I came home to an empty house with no one to talk to. I was desperate for a distraction from the overwhelming quietness and my roaming eyes landed on my brand new bed with its thick brand new mattress and fluffy duvet.

At that very moment, I got an epiphany: bed burpees was elated and went ahead to make room for what would have been the best night of my life since moving out. The burpee, or squat thrust, is a form of work-out that involves doing a push up and springing back to your feet .

They are a nightmare of course but when done on the bed, the bouncing effect will have you squealing like a child in a candy store.

The first one was great and the second one came with an even bigger bounce. It is the third one that sent me and my entire several kilogrammes crashing down with a resounding thud. The bed hinges succumbed to pressure and simply gave in. Like I told you, no mystery there.

Fortunately I didn’t get hurt thanks to the thick mattress but that marked the end of what was turning out to be an exhilarating evening.

NOT A WALK IN THE PARK

Being an adult, as I have come to learn, is not a walk in the park. In addition to personal problems, we are also bombarded with information that weighs heavily on our already burdened shoulders.

Take for instance the high cost of living and all these foreign debts that are strangling our economy.

Being aware of such happenings is stressful enough as it is, it keeps gnawing on your mind that the future looks bleak.

Hard-pressed on every corner, it is very easy for us to get lost in the despondency of it all and forget the simple pleasures of life.

We get caught up in trying to make ends meet and secure the future under very uncertain conditions characterised by job insecurity, global warming threatening food security, cancer rampage and so forth. 

We are afraid of dying before securing the future of our offspring, before fulfilling our dreams and aspirations. The fear of failing makes us forget to live. Pleasure, in the face of the misery makes us feel guilty. I think that this is not the way to live.

I believe we should have more moments of “silliness”, laughter and simply letting our hair down. A social detox from the cares that weigh us down to just breathe and enjoy the gift of being alive.

There is a club down the street from where I live and every Thursday they have Karaoke night. It usually begins at around 10pm, the neighbourhood is pretty quiet and so we are able to follow the karaoke show from our homes.  The show kicks off with stunning performances that will make you think Beyoncé slipped into the country in heavy disguise and is now performing live on stage at a local club somewhere in Kiambu County. 

HORRIBLE SINGING

However from around midnight, as the level of drunkenness intensifies among the patrons, the horror part of the show begins. You do not want to listen to the slurry version of Ed Shereen’s song “Perfect” slurry and punctuated by loud guttural burps. It took me a month to be able to sleep through the horrible singing.

That said, the cheers after a lousy performance makes me smile and I think to myself:, “She has walked off that stage with some weight off her shoulders. She let her hair down. She will probably have a good laugh tomorrow when she is sober and her pals share the audio clip of her giving a screeching owl some serious competition.”

After the bed incident, I decide to take my fun ambitions to a nearby gym.  Zumba sessions are my all-time favourite because we dance and scream a lot to those hot afro-beats. With sweat pouring from our pores, we let loose and try to match the agile instructor’s impossible moves.

We let go.  Another place where I let loose and laugh until my belly aches and my ribs get shattered is at the theatre watching these hilarious local plays.

From my experience, having moments of indulging in something fun, breaking from routine and temporarily forgetting our troubles, greatly improves the quality of life.

Of importance to note however, if your weight would inspire City girl to write another fat-shaming article like she did back in 2015, you might want to skip the bed burpees as a way of unwinding.

King Solomon from the Bible talks of everything being vanity and some ascribe to this and add a touch of pessimism by saying that in the end, we will all die.

One day we will all die but until then, we live. We might as well have a blast while at it.