Guilty Pleasure

“Why work today? I'll take Tuesday on, just like I took Monday off. That's just the kind of dedicated worker I am.”
― Will Advise, Nothing is here...

Ah, the guilty pleasure of a day off. This isn’t a Saturday or a Sunday or even a vacation day. It is a work day and I have taken the day off. It feels rather like playing hooky from school; a niggling finger of guilt tickles at my conscience, making this stolen day just that much sweeter. I feel a tingle of excitement. What wonders will this day hold, suddenly free and stretching enticingly before me?

I am reminded of a time in my twenties (I won’t tell you how very long ago that was ;) when my good friend and apartment mate, and I, worked together at an institution for the severely mentally disabled. In addition to their mental challenges the women we worked with had behavioral and physical disabilities which had developed over a lifetime of institutional living. I remember appreciating those few with whom I was able to converse, for most had no language, and resorted to screams, bites, hitting and slapping each other and us to convey their emotions. The women spent their lives together in large wards. It was our job, young, naïve and fresh out of college, to attempt to bring order into their lives and try to give them a semblance of safety and education. My friend and I came home each night from work to our shared apartment exhausted.

So, every once in a while, we would take the day off.

Getting up in the morning, ready to drag ourselves off to work, we’d look at each other and say, “Let’s take the day off!” We couldn’t do it very often; staff coverage had to be found so the women would be cared for. The scarcity made the stolen days that much more delicious. Suddenly, feeling like kids on a snowday from school, we were free.

We lounged about in our bathrobes, savoring our coffee, my friend puttering about in the kitchen, me sitting at the kitchen table, watching the birds out the window and writing in my journal. Then we would leisurely get ready and go clothes shopping.

Always, we went shopping, stopping for lunch at a sandwich spot along the way. I don’t know why shopping was such a treat. Perhaps it was the frivolity of unplanned spending when we should have been at work earning money. Perhaps it was the freedom of being able to wander about, responsible for no one but ourselves, having no schedule but that which our rumbling stomachs and tired feet set, as we looked at all the pretty things we might buy. Always it was the guilty pleasure of knowing we should have been at work but instead doing whatever we wanted.

Memories of those enticing days echo forward, and every once in a while, I remember that guilty pleasure and steal a day just for myself.

Today, when I should be working on several different writing projects and making calls, when I should be organizing and cleaning the house, today when I should be doing any number of other duties with which my life is filled, today I think, how about a day off? 

Photo by Jon Ly on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

How long has it been since you gave yourself the day off on a regular work day? When was the last time you gave yourself a day to get out of your usual routine and do whatever most appeals to you?
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Some days that might look like a day of relaxation, curling up with a steaming cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and reading that novel you’ve had waiting on your nightstand.

On other days it might look like a day of exploration in places you don’t usually go, going to a new restaurant, checking out that fascinating boutique, walking along the main street of a town you’ve been wanting to visit.

Still other days might call for adventure, a thrilling movie, a fascinating museum, riding a zip-line!

There are no rules but that of pleasure. This is your day. Enjoy yourself.