sabbath

Routine: the Road to Comfort

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I have a Friday night routine. Of all my nights, Friday nights are the most sacred. They are my Sabbath. After I leave work on a Friday evening, nothing work-related happens—no emails, no grading, no lesson-planning, nothing. I need one entire night that is dedicated to not working. However, I still have a routine but it is a routine that leads me to rest.

When I get home on a Friday, there are chores to be done, such as washing the dishes, cleaning the catboxes, and making sure there is something for dinner. These are more than just chores; they are steps that help me transfer from being at work to being in my home and to have a home that I am content in. Not everything needs to be spic-and-span, necessarily, but enough has been done to ensure that major chores are dealt with. Dishes, litter-boxes, trash, recycling, etc. Sure, I have a partner who can and does help but I also find a bit of calm and reassurance in doing these chores myself. Then, once they are done, I can eat contentedly and then head up to my shower to scald and scour off the week.

Not until all of this is done can I truly feel safe(?) enough to relax. I have been productive both at work and at home and now…now I can sit. My family is cared for, the important spaces of our home are clean and tidy…now I am free. I can feel the release as I settle on the couch and Husband asks if he can get me anything. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is no, but regardless I am now in my calm space. My routine done, the night is now mine to do with as I need and choose. Reading, writing, catching up on movies or TV shows, or just sitting in silence for a long while…whatever the night holds is utterly my choice. And that is a beautiful, necessary thing.

Quasi-Daily Writing – April 15, 2012

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I was just thinking about the commandment in the Old Testament: “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.” Also, in Genesis, it notes that, during the creation process, that God rested on the seventh day. I understand that weeks can be very hectic, even with church and families and whatnot. But I had another thought today.

Today is one of the most gorgeous days I have seen in a long while. It’s sunny with a few clouds, beautiful breezes, and it’s lovely-warm outside. I have the doors and windows open in the house, breeze sweeping through and freshening the air, cleaning out the stuffiness and filling my house with the lightness of spring. If for no other reason, I think that commandment holds true for no other reason than for the opportunity to sit back, relax, take in, and appreciate days like this.

Day like this fill me with a profound sense of beauty, peace, happiness, and love. Days like this make me feel like leaping and shouting for joy. How does the song go? “I wanted to ring out the bells and fling out my arms and to sing out the news!” I am guessing that part of this elation is also the sense of freedom that I feel, what with my grading all done and filed away, the sense of accomplishment that I feel at having a clean desk back at school. I am supremely content in this day.

And that is a wonderful thing to be able to say! ^_^