Sunday morning...with a cup of coffee laced with cream and cinnamon-vanilla sugar.
Joined a conversation this week about how Sunday's used-to-be...not through my lifetime, mind you...but back in the good-old-days.
Sunday was set aside as a day-of-rest. Businesses were closed. Church was attended. Sunday Pot-Roast was slipped in the oven. Friends and Families visited. Thick newspapers were enjoyed. A long afternoon nap was taken. An evening stroll, perhaps. Bedtime was early and people woke on Monday rested...refreshed and ready to rejoin the World.
A friend updated the idea by noting that taking back "a day-of-rest" did not have to be bound to any religious ideal. Only a conviction to stress-reduction in life. As for me...I think that an extended Morning Meditation or Evening Meditation fits perfectly into the slow down and relax concept. And, of course, Church for many is still a comfort and an option. Another went a step further suggesting a weekly Sunday detox...taking fluid and broths only to give your body (internally) a day of rest as well. One suggested a day of silence along with the rest. Two suggested a hiatus from electronic gadgets.
All in all...the consensus was that we needed to take back one day a week (not necessarily Sunday) to call our own.
Surely the world would continue to spin if we took a day off.
It is trickier than it sounds. We are almost programmed these days that relaxation is somehow wrong and rushing through life busy and at break-neck speed is the norm. Working 12-16 hour days admirable. Meditation a waste of time and yak yak yaking to fill any hope of silence.
Each of us...in our own way...determine to reclaim our DAY OFF. An experiment of sorts...then to gather after a Month of Sundays and discuss how the project turned out, and whether or not we were going to continue.
Reaching almost instinctively for a load of laundry that still waited to be dried this morning...I realized this was going to require some forethought and planning of its own. Finishing up the week's work including household chores on Saturday.
Still, Morning Meditation was good...and the rest of the day appears to be mine. Like everything- it is a process. Turning the phone off. Finish the Sunday Paper. Looking forward to the Afternoon Nap. Get creative with a lump of clay or a blank page. Enjoy silence or perhaps some classical music.
Relax and Recharge.
