The Day of Rest

I’m already sort of failing on my new year’s resolution. Surprise, surprise. This was to really use Sunday as a day of rest. I think that everyone should do this; religion aside. Everyone, in the world, should take one day out of their week to relax, and to reflect. That is why I write on Sundays. I write all the time, or at least I like to jot down notes in the moleskin book I carry around. But I take Sunday as the day to sleep in, relax, but most importantly reflect. And I reflect by writing. The majority of Western society moves at a ridiculously fast pace. We will our schedules up with work, exercise, school, extracurricular activities, social events. It’s go go go go go. But if we all took time to slow down and digest it all, once a week, it might make us realize how fast we’re going. It might allow us to ask ourselves why we feel the need to go so fast. The mind can only handle and process a certain amount of information at one time. If we take no time to reflect on a conversation or an experience we had that week or that day, it might get lost somewhere in the cracks. We worry so much about getting from place to place, or from one event to another, that we forget to enjoy the process of getting there, or the time in between.

For example, let’s say I have a class at 9:00 on Monday mornings. I set my alarm for 8:00, I wake up, then I set it for an additional 15 minutes. I then find myself running out the door and walking extremely fast-paced to my class. By the time I get there, I’m panting, my legs hurt, and I have two seconds to grab a coffee before I go upstairs. Because of instances like this, I find myself walking fast all the time. The solution: actually wake up at 8:00. I need to be much more conscious of setting my mind to leave 5-10 minutes earlier. During that walk, I’m way too focused on being on time, making it to the ATM or making time to get a coffee.

At the end of the day, after class it’s different. I turn on music and I walk home. Then I realize how fast I’m walking, and I walk slower. I try to be deliberate and almost painstakingly slow in my walk back; anyone who walks behind me probably thinks “what an asshole, walk faster.” But it’s incredible how much more I notice. Tonight I was walking home from a friend’s house, and I literally decided to stop and look at the baseball field across from my apartment. And I smelled the grass; it reminded me so much of home and playing soccer and just being outside. Moments like that really allow me to reflect and just have a moment in which I can remember so many happy moments I've had simply by being near grass.



People hate sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, and while they’re in that transition period from one place to another they worry so much about timing. Think about it this way; there’s absolutely no way to control it, it’s an inalienable truth. So why not enjoy it? Why not look around at the different people in the cars, or just look at all the trees outside your car window, or hear all the birds or feel the breeze as you roll the windows down and listen to your favorite song?
Sundays are like the car ride or the walk home. They’re a transition period. If you’re in college, Sunday is most likely a recovery day from a good weekend, but then it’s also a day to do all your homework and studying. We end up staying up late, and then having an awful start to the week because we were up so late. It’s a vicious cycle. They’re just another day to get through, just like a walk or a drive to get from point A to point B. Instead, what I’ve tried doing is getting my homework done during the week, and yes, even on Saturday morning or afternoon, so I can use Sunday to do this sort of thing. It’s going to be 55 degrees in Philadelphia tomorrow, and I know that I want to start being outside.



I’ve really only done this reflecting/relaxing thing on two Sundays out of the past 2 months, but I’m getting better. I suggest you try it. Who knows? It might help you have a better week and a better, healthier lifestyle in general.