I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

The speaker reframes an ordinary annoyance—cleaning up after a party—as evidence of a richer good: companionship. The “mess” becomes a trace of shared time, laughter, and hospitality, suggesting that inconvenience can be read as a sign of abundance rather than deprivation. The line participates in a gratitude practice that deliberately notices the hidden benefits inside minor burdens, shifting attention from what must be done to what has been received. Implicitly, it values relationships over tidiness and treats domestic labor not as meaningless drudgery but as the afterglow of community.