Pillowlando: International Pillow Fighting Day in Orlando

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A friend of mine on twitter, @HappyHomeStager shared an exciting event with me Friday afternoon. In honor of International Pillow Fighting Day, Orlando was organizing a giant pillow fight called Pillowlando. Who could pass this up? I immediately put out a call for friends to join me. You may have even seen my early-morning, Saturday post.

Pillow fighting was spectacular. Take a look in this YouTube video.

[note: Zurich is in Switzerland, not Austria. I was confusing my alphabet: A to Z.]

The event was as organic as it looked. People showed up with their pillows, stood around until the whistle blew, hit everyone they could with pillows and then stopped when it was over. Pure magic!

There were probably 100-150 people participating in the pillow fight and another 50-100 watching. And as you saw in the video, there were pillows of all shapes and sizes. There were classic white, striped, character prints, character shaped (spongebob), and more. Organized by Brian Feldman of Brian Feldman Projects, this has been the third year that Pillow Fighting has happened in Orlando. This year, it took place in front of the Orlando History Center.

April 3rd is International Pillow Fighting Day. It was celebrated around the world in such cities as Boston, Washington D.C., Sydney, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Chicago, Dublin, Helsinki and the list goes on and on. What an amazing worldwide event and it was made even better that Orlando was included on that list.

If you’d like to view more photos from the 2010 Orlando Pillow Fight, visit my Facebook Fan Page here. The local newspaper, The Orlando Sentinel, also posted photos from the event on their homepage. I’m in about a half dozen, but you’ll need to scroll through them all to find me.

By now, I think you can see how much fun International Pillow Fight Day was. Events like these occur all the time, and I’ve found that many people are reluctant to attend them for a host of reasons.

1. I don’t have anyone to go with
2. It’s childish
3. I bet nobody will end up going anyway
4. I have work to do at home
5. I don’t know how to get there
6. and the list could go on and on from there…

Since I’ve started this site in June of 2009, I’ve received several comments on, “how exciting a life I have”, “how I wish I could travel like you” and “you get to do a lot of fun stuff”. And the reason why I live an exciting life, and travel and do fun stuff is because I don’t let excuses stop me.

1. A pillow fight doesn’t need friends to make it fun, you just run around and hit people with pillows
2. Yes pillow fights are childish. Children live fun lives because they don’t worry about people judging them. They don’t worry about what others think. Children have no rules. They use their imagination and have fun. Adult lives are filled with rules, constraints and responsibility. It’s awfully limiting. Moments like Pillow Fights bring us back to our youth and remind us that we need to have fun in our lives.
3. Sure there’s a risk in going to an event sponsored by an unknown individual, but the risks are minimal. It doesn’t cost anything. It’s not a far drive. It’s not a long event. So take a chance.
4. The event was only 30 -minutes. Any work at home can wait while you have 30 minutes of fun.
5. Figure it out.
6. One of my favorite quotes (and I’m not sure who said it)…”Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”. It’s easy to make excuses why you shouldn’t participate in something. So don’t. Just get out there and have an adventure!

So I’d like to thank my friends Eddie, “T” and Erin for joining me at the Pillow Fight. “T” was so excited to attend he called out of work for it (thus the face hidden from view). If you’d like to participate in next year’s Pillowlando Pillow Fight, you might want to follow the event on twitter here.

In honor of letting loose and having fun I’d like to know, what’s your favorite childhood activity and when was the last time you did it? Share by commenting below. And if you went to Pillowlando or a Pillow Fight held in your own community, share that too. How was it?

I’ll see you out there…!

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