Going To A Party Alone | Risk 23 Series

Going to a party alone is one of my biggest fears. Looking back at college, I often hesitated going to any kind of social event if it meant that I would have to arrive by myself. I mean I hated showing up to parties by myself. I hated it so much that often I wouldn’t go if I couldn’t find someone to go with me. So desperately I would beg friends to go with me to these parties, most of the time because I wanted something to do. Honestly, I’m not sure if I regret these decisions. However, I do wonder what would have happened if I went to that party alone. Ultimately, that’s the point of this “Risk 23” series.

How was your day/week?

My day was pretty interesting!

What did you do?

Well, this past weekend, I was invited to a Halloween party by one of my lovely friends. I knew this was going to be a small get-together, which is probably even more frightening for me. If I’m at a huge party, I think that I can just hide out in a corner by myself and go completely unnoticed. This was definitely not the case here.

Going to a party alone was actually an interesting experience. I arrived a little later than expected, dressed as Frida Kahlo. In fact, I was the last to arrive of the ones invited to the party. I actually recognized some familiar faces! There were some not so familiar faces too and I felt a bit over-dressed even though it was a Halloween party.

My friend was so kind to escort me to the punch, which was incredibly tasty. I remember saying that I didn’t taste the alcohol. However, this punch was deadly and I needed a little liquid courage to withstand the night.

After grabbing a couple slices of pizza, I sat down amongst the others. I definitely felt over-dressed for the occasion in that moment. One guy was so kind to offer his seat, but I politely declined because I was already sitting on the floor and I didn’t want to make a scene or draw more attention to myself.

After a bit of talking, we played a few games and took some pictures. It was a good experience for going to a party alone.

Did you learn anything new about yourself?

Going to a party alone frightens me more than I thought. In this situation, I definitely knew a couple of people there. However, I didn’t realize how self-conscious I am about these things. For example, I truly felt over-dressed at a Halloween party. It’s so interesting that I felt this way because everyone was dressed up. Additionally, I did little things like not taking the guy’s offer for his seat when I really didn’t want to be on the floor. I really hated that because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, but I made myself uncomfortable anyways. I never realized before that I do these things as a result of my own fears.

How did you feel about this risk before?

Going to a party alone? Probably wouldn’t have done it before because those situations make me feel awkward. It especially makes me feel awkward when you show up to a party and you don’t know anyone. Luckily, that wasn’t the case here.

How do you feel about this risk now?

Going to a party alone wasn’t that bad. I definitely think that taking this risk is low on the pole of fears for me. I would say that it’s not entirely scary.

Why did you pick this risk?

This risk somewhat fell into my lap. Around the time that I was planning to do this series, I was invited to the party. My bestie couldn’t come with me, so I had to go alone. It was almost like the stars and moons aligned.

Would you take this risk again?

I think I would definitely go to a party by myself again. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. However, next time, I will probably try to wear something more neutral. Although, maybe I should wear something flashy just to add a whole new layer to this experiment.

Additional comments?

This is just one fear down, but I’m feeling optimistic. I think I’ve learned from this experience and taking this risk was pretty interesting. For anyone that has serious anxiety for social situations, I say take the plunge! At first, you may feel really weird and awkward, but you might end up meeting some cool people because of it.

Going to a party alone? Check!

Question of the day: How do you feel about going to a party alone?

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Photo by Daria Litvinova on Unsplash