The applause finishes quickly compared with the work of living beyond it.

The moment of recognition is short and the life around it is long. Whatever you achieve, the applause is measured in seconds, and then there is the ordinary Tuesday afterwards in which you still have to work out what to do with your afternoon. That is not a sad fact; it just means the good part cannot be the applause, or almost all of your time is spent waiting.

Plan what happens the day after something big, before it arrives. Something small and absorbing, a person to see, work you actually like. The comedown is usually about having nothing arranged rather than about the thing being over.