Sunday morning coming down

Gallery

Posted on by

This is how Gracie deals with Sunday blues.

Ever since forever Sunday evenings have always been a reflective time for me (and by reflective I mean sad). It goes back to when I was in school. It wasn’t a “darn I have to go back to school, work, whatever tomorrow” moment. I can’t really explain it logically.

Much as Friday is a day of celebration and Monday a new start, Sunday was a sad day, especially in the evening. It’s a day I can get weepy on a dime. My heart could hurt over nothing. I never understood it. Even when I had very exciting jobs (and I had a few of them), I didn’t feel joyful on Sunday nights. I always thought I was weird. Then I heard Kris Kristofferson’s song. Despite the drug, alcohol and party hardy references, I could relate to the underlying feelings.

I find myself longing to return to the weekday routine of Monday (I know everyone but me hates Mondays). It’s been with me for well over 60 years through good times and bad so I don’t ever expect it to go away. Out of curiosity I “googled” it. (What did we do before google?) It’s a thing. “Sunday blues.”

The suggested causes don’t fit me. We always search for logic and this may not have any logic. It has nothing to do with the stresses or prep work of the coming week. I have it when I’m on vacation. I am not stressed about what I’ll have for breakfast on vacation although the absence of a good mocha latte at the beach is disheartening.

Over the years I’ve learned to manage it by doing things I enjoy on a Sunday. Making it special in some way. If I need a good cry, I let her rip. I medicate with cat hugs and two trips to Starbucks instead of one when necessary.  I don’t make it a work day unless I have to.

Here’s how Kris describes it (it’s not about hangovers, drinking, drugs so get beyond that):

On the Sunday morning sidewalk
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned
‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday
Makes a body feel alone
And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleeping city sidewalks
Sunday morning coming down

63 thoughts on “Sunday morning coming down”

  2. I guess we’re both odd. I’ve always felt the same way – Mondays, good. Sundays, not so much.

    I know the calendar shows Sunday as the start of the week, but for me it’s always been the end, and I’m not a huge fan of endings. I’m great at beginnings, but peter out in the home stretch. The lack of energy and enthusiasm does come across as ‘the blues’.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  3. I seem to be the opposite. I like Sunday late afternoons/evenings. That’s when I take stock of what I did over the weekend and review/muse upon what will be in the coming week. I find it soothing to sit with my thoughts then. Of course there’s usually a glass of wine involved so maybe that’s why I enjoy that time of the week so much.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  4. Makes complete sense to me, Kate. As both a student and an educator, I always enjoyed returning to school in the fall. Still, early every September, I came down with what I call ‘Labour Day Syndrome’. I agree that extra Starbucks and cat hugs definitely help!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  7. Friday night and the weekend ahead … that coveted time to do what you want, always sounds so promising, and while the workweek often drags, why does it seem the weekend zips by? Suddenly it’s Sunday night again. I feel a sense of accomplishment if I spend the weekend doing something productive (like the two weekends spent working in the yard and having something to show for it), yet, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve clamored for more and more “me time” as I felt I deserved it and the mindset that if I don’t have it, the weekend has felt like a waste of days off. Maybe it’s because I am getting older – maybe it is because these days it is a challenge to show up at work sometimes. I can remember my parents telling me when I was young to enjoy my youth, because being an adult is no walk in the park and one day you’ll understand why.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

      • Yes, I try not to go on weekends, except when loading up on groceries for over the Winter. Then I have to go on the weekend as I can’t do a quick shopping before I start work at 11:00 a.m.

        For me, holidays are a little sad as I have no family, and friends of the family have now all passed away. I have told Anne Mehrling many times I am envious of her and her family members who gather together on a regular basis; I believe I have said that to you as well, as you usually have a Summer reunion, which I guess you won’t do this year due to COVID-19.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply ↓

        • Anne is a very gregarious person with loads of friends and family. I admire her. No decision has been made about our reunion. Holding out for maybe September but we don’t know. Looks like our restrictions will be eased again next Friday. Our numbers have dropped quite a bit.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply ↓

          • Yes she is. Well September is a better idea as numbers hopefully keep dropping. We are going to Phase 5 soon, but today the higher court overruled the ban on keeping the gyms closed, so now people can go to the gym starting June 25th, however the Governor’s office filed an emergency motion to stop that opening. It will be interesting to see who prevails.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply ↓

            • We went from being the 3rd highest state to the bottom of the list due to restrictions from our gov. Most of our state has been open and we are going green next Friday. However, despite all this success with the virus, legislators of the opposing party have petitioned to impeach our gov (who has done as excellent a job as you can in something that was unplanned). Some businesses have closed completely locally but they were either already planning to (for retirement) or were on the brink of bankruptcy before the virus was here. I’m sure there will be more and some will be victims. It’s no different than a hurricane except that we had an element of control.

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply ↓

              • See I feel the same way about our governor – this is only her second year as governor and she did the same as yours – made many restrictions. People griped because hair salons/barbers and nail salons were not open but she allowed dentists to open – her husband is a dentist, so they complained she opened for his benefit. We have businesses, especially the food industry that have decided to closer permanently, rather than put measures in effect per the CDC.

                Liked by 1 person

                Reply ↓

  8. I also love Mondays. Mondays are the fresh start.
    Sundays don’t have enough to look forward to. You start a Sunday – and unless you are doing some event, or adventure, it’s just a blah day that only leads to Monday – which gets all the freshness of Starting. Friday is a start of Weekend. Saturday is a day of adventure or productivity. But Sunday always feels like not enough time combined with too much time. It has no sense starting and honestly I don’t think it feels like an ending. It feels like a beige carpet. It doesn’t call for any action. Perhaps that is why our otherwise untethered emotions use it express themselves.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  10. This is interesting, Kate. Don’t care about any day of the week but Friday and Sunday. Friday because I still get the happy feelings I got in high school, college, and when I worked. Friday was for dinner out. A pitcher of beer, bottle of wine and pizza with good friends. I dread Saturday because everybody is out doing annoying things that make noise. Told you I was quirky. I love Sundays.. always have. Sundays are for comfort food in the cool season, grilling in the warm/hot season and being with family or friends listening to music into the evening. Everything feels right in my gut on Fridays and Sundays. You’re right though, any day you wake up is a good day. I kinda feel like the blues or sads are always knocking at my door, I just have to shoo them away. Life was better when we had cats but life is different now. Still enjoy any day SSNS and I go out for an impromptu al fresco lunch on the water. Sorry this is long.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Fresco dining on the water! Wow! Love that but I only get that when we go to the beach. Fridays are “no cooking” days for sure. At it’s simplest it was Chinese take out which is still wonderful. Sunday mornings are better than Sunday evenings for me. Not sure why I get the sads then.

      Like

      Reply ↓

  11. In days before Hubby, I hated Sundays. From the moment I was up, I was either cooking the Sunday roast, baking, cleaning, washing up or making sandwiches. It didn’t help that He always went to the pub and came home two or three hours after the meal was ready, so I just plated his, put it in the oven which was switched off and if it was cold when he came in to eat it, tough. I never had a problem with Mondays.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  12. Wow, I had no idea this was a thing beyond those of us who just didn’t want to go back to school/work. Very interesting.

    For me, it was always about work, at least for those jobs I didn’t like. I’d wake up mostly okay, but by about 1:00pm I’d start thinking about work the next day and get the blues.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • I have a teacher friend who was like that. Bad bellyaches on Sundays. Eventually she got out of teaching (which she hated) and found more rewarding work. There were a few times when I dreaded going to work for one reason or another but mostly I had jobs I loved.

      Like

      Reply ↓

  13. My Sunday feeling was loneliness. We would have gone to church and had a nice dinner, then I was lonely. My dad was often out fishing or doing something to exercise his free hours. Mom, having played the organ for our church service and cooked dinner, went to bed for a long nap. It was the only nap she took on a weekly basis, and it lasted forever! My brother entertained himself and wasn’t eager to share. Imagine my delight when I discovered the town library and could borrow books!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  14. I’ve been essentially self-employed for many years and have often done same work on weekends as I do during the week. But I still experience the same rhythms I did when I working weeks with weekends off – relief when the weekend comes, sadness on Sunday night when the weekend is over, and a sense of something new starting on Monday. It’s weird.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  18. Sunday is a weird-feeling day, I must agree. When I was little it was the day we got ready for the school and work week coming up, mostly by doing stuff I hated – ironing clothes for the week, polishing shoes, squaring away homework. It was the day that was supposed to be a rest day, but it wasn’t. Of course now that I’m grown up I don’t own an iron and I polish shoes strictly on an as-needed basis. But I still get mopey on Sunday afternoons.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  19. Even though our calendar marks Sunday as the beginning of the week, for me, at least, it’s always felt like the end of a week. In that regard, my mind looks over the earlier days of the week and if I have any regrets from it. It also marks that I’m another week older and my life, therefore, is one week shorter. So Sunday tends to be a more melancholy day for me as well.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  20. Yes, oh, I hear you! Even though I had work/ school on Friday, I always loved Friday more than Sunday. Kind of like loving Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day, even though there are presents on the 25th. The joy of anticipation versus the let down of “the holiday/ weekend ends today.”

    Sunday melancholy lasted until my son went to school. And then, BAM! Monday was the greatest day of the week, when I could stretch out and breathe for a few hours alone. Still a ton of chores and work to do, but oh, it was bliss. Sunday was far less melancholy.

    Now, of course, the kid is home every day and there is no Friday or Sunday or Monday.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  21. I know that feeling, Kate. I was never really able to really describe how it felt, but it typically would hit me on Monday morning when I wake up @ 4:00 to go to work. I’m never dreading going to my day job, I’m grateful for it, but it’s just a sinking kind of feeling. I have learned that I have total control over my thoughts. If I allow my mind to go into a dark pit, I can just as easily turn it around and get my thoughts back on the right track. It’s a challenge sometimes!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  23. I think it’s best sometimes not to try and analyze why we feel the way we do – we just DO. I must admit my Sunday night blues TOTALLY had to do with facing a Monday at work. I gratefully lost that when I retired but it took a while I’ll admit. Whatever it is that triggers it for you though it sounds like you’ve done your best to deal with it in your own way – life is like that – dealing with it in our OWN way – whatever that is!

    Hugs, Pam

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

Don't be shy, I'd love to hear what you're thinking!