Just before Christmas last year, I was extremely fortunate to be invited to take part in a charity fundraiser with some friends of mine. The event took place in a large shop that two of the friends work in and the idea was people would donate money to see people attempt to get across a balance beam. What made it completely awesome was the fact that the beam was above a truly enormous tank of mud!
When I was invited to take part a couple of weeks before, my friends told me that these kind of events have more success and impact if they look unplanned on the part of the "victim". Basically, I was asked to dress up really well so it would be a stunning sight to see me get muddy! This is just the kind of thing I love so I wasted no time finding the perfect outfit. I chose a gorgeous emerald green satin party top and wore a smart, well cut black blazer over the top. On my bottom half I wore my best, newest dark blue skinny jeans. For my feet I selected a smart pair of black ballerinas and some lovely black ankle socks with bright emerald green heels and toes, to match my top! I also decided to wear nice earrings and a necklace, and rings etc, to really ramp up the glam factor and make the mudbath truly shocking! I should say at this point that I intended to go in the mud, even if it had to be "deliberate". I really wanted to get all dirty in this outfit...........
When the day came I really enjoyed getting dressed up and travelling to the venue. I was quite taken aback by the size, and particularly the depth of the mudbath. It was huge! My friends informed me that it was made from sterile topsoil so it was beautifully soft and creamy with no stones in it. Lovely!
I watched with a dry mouth as the first girl attempted to cross. Money was being raised very easily, it must be said! She was almost half way across when she fell, with a massive splodge into the mud. My heart skipped a beat just watching it! I couldn't believe I was going to have a turn at this! When the shout went out of "who's next?", as instructed I put my hand up. The people standing nearby seemed surprised that I was going to do this, the neat outfit was definitely a showstopper for this type of activity!
The huge expanse of mud looked so incredible as I stood at the end of the beam above it. It was at this point that I had a last minute change of heart and decided to take my shoes off. This was because I wanted to show of my lovely black and green socks firstly. Secondly I wanted the thrill of sinking in the mud in just socks because I love the feeling, and thirdly I actually thought it would be easier to "accidentaly" slip off the beam in socks!
As I started to make my way across, I could tell that I would be falling off anyway. It was difficult to balance and doing it in socks made it slippery, as I'd hoped!
All the time I was up there I could see the first girl below me, wallowing, slopping and squelching around in the mud. She'd fallen in wearing shoes and I could see that she had one in each hand, they'd obviously been pulled off by the sticky gloop, so she was in there in socks too.
Then I slipped. And overbalanced. Here we go I thought! I fell through the air arrow straight, feet first. The world seemed to slow down. I felt my socks hit the cold, squelchy ooze. I sank for what felt like ages. I finally stopped in a standing position, just over my knees in mud! So, I was still spotless apart from my lower legs and my socks! The assembled masses were going crazy. If I'm honest, I didn't really know what to do next! I hadn't expected to keep my balance like this! So I dropped to my knees and had a roll around in the thick mud, much to the crowd's joy. I had a bit of a mock-wrestle with the other girl that was in there, and in no time at all I was covered in mud from hair to socks! I found it incredibly thrilling to be doing this in public with so many people watching. In review, I would say that the single most important element of the activity that made it successful was the gorgeous outfit. It just wouldn't work in the same manner if old clothes, or a swimsuit was worn. People really stand up and take notice when a well-dressed girl falls into a tank of mud it seems!
In total, I spent over an hour in the mud, squelching and showboating. I'm pretty sure it was the most magical hour of my life! Afterwards I was violently hosed down (and even enjoyed this!) and am surprised, and pleased to report that my outfit will live to see another day!