George
I've always enjoyed those lazy Sunday mornings when you wake up feeling sleepy and content in bed with nowhere to be. You can hear the sound of the rain pounding against the window and feel a cold breeze circulating the room, but you know there is no need to get up and interact with it. I've always found it oddly comforting.
When most people think of a perfect Sunday they probably think of a farmers market in the morning, then a walk (maybe with a dog?) and then a large Sunday roast. But not me. My perfect Sunday is a 'nothing spoiling day.' What is a nothing-spoiling day, you ask? Well, my Dad coined this term when I was growing up. About once a month I would wake up as a kid and ask my dad what the plans were for the day and he would state that it was a 'nothing spoiling day'. This meant we had no plans, no chores, and no commitments. We could do whatever we wanted. Some days we would all just lie around the house in our duvets and other times we would do something spontaneous, like go to the beach. These were honestly some of the best days of my childhood.
For the past several years I haven't had any nothing-spoiling days. My last one was just before I turned thirteen. We watched the family film 'Rio' and got through a pack of kitkats, a bag of buttons and two bags of Doritos between the four of us somehow. After that, as a teenager, I was forever out of the house during the weekends with my friends. Then came the Saturday job and working for what felt like all of the hours under the sun; but in reality, was about ten hours a week. I miss those days. Then after sixth form, I went to university, which is kind of like a miniature separate life for three years in itself. Then we have your twenties, where you are doing everything to make it in life that you feel bad sitting around doing nothing, due to the overwhelming idea that we should all have several side hustles that we are doing at every minute of every day. But finally, in my late twenties, I decided to bring 'nothing spoiling' days back, as I needed them both physically and mentally.
It's strange how society shapes you and judges you as a person, as even writing this I feel bad for essentially saying that instead of bettering myself in any way on a Sunday I would rather just be a lazy slob. That is certainly one way to think of it, but may I be so bold as to offer you an alternative viewpoint? It's okay to do nothing.
For the past few months now I've had one or two 'nothing spoiling days' and they have made me feel so much happier and refreshed as a person. Sometimes they have even been my favourite day of the week. What do I do with them? It can vary but normally laze in bed until 11ish, then migrate with my duvet to the sofa to grab snacks and put Gilmore Girls on for my 10th rewatch. That is it. Only sometimes do I order pizza.
We feel so guilty for taking time to ourselves these days and feel that even at the weekend if we aren't 'hustling' or improving our body, we are failing at life. This just isn't true, as if you are constantly either working, doing a side hustle, exercising, or anything else that you are somehow meant to fit into a twenty-four-hour day, then you will crash and burn. What I'm trying to say is it's okay to have a 'nothing spoiling day'. One day a month doesn't make you lazy, won't harm your health and professional goals or cause you to become a forever-alone cat lady. But what taking one day a month to yourself will do is improve your mental and physical well-being by allowing you to recharge and feel more like you again.
