Sleep-in Sunday

I slept in today and had no regrets. In the past, I would feel a twinge of guilt or FOMO for sleeping late. Today, I felt giddiness and gratitude instead. We had a leisurely day, a sleep-in Sunday.

I finished listening to two books while doing PT exercises. Both had animal themes, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez and How to Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery. I enjoyed them. I read Feeling Good by David Burns while luxuriating in a hot Epsom salt bath. I’m over halfway done, I want to finish it by the end of this month.

While listening to the animal-themed books, I recalled all the animal friends I’ve made in my life. We don’t have pets now, but we did when the kids were with us and when we were growing up too. I’ve always been curious about creatures and loved seeing them in the wild and enjoyed their company when they lived with us. They had their own unique personalities, and they were our friends and enriched our lives. The kids especially enjoy them. I believe it helps us respect, understand, and have a greater appreciation of creatures when we grow up with them while helping to care for and nurture them.

The COVID cases are declining here, so shutting down indoor dining, etc has helped. I know it’s difficult for the businesses affected by these changes, but it helps save lives. If I were a business owner, I hope I would value saving lives above all and willingly adhere to guidelines. We’re all having to make sacrifices and are enduring challenging changes, ultimately to help save more lives.

Last night we watched a dark comedy called The Art of Self Defense, we’d also recently watched American Ultra, both starred Jesse Eisenberg. Both were over the top, violent, twisted, and funny. We’ve been watching atypical, non-formulaic movies lately. We had popcorn too! Nom.

I finished the Song Exploder first season, but the next comes out Tuesday, yay! It’s so cool learning about how they created their songs. And the host’s voice is so buttery smooth, it’s soothing, hypnotic. He must be a radio host or something. Hrishikesh Hirway is his name.

I used to fantasize about having a long stretch of time where I could do exactly what I’m doing now. That began nine years ago when I was working too much and I ached to rest and sleep like a normal human. I had desperately longed for my bed, if only I could get enough sleep. I am now getting enough rest and sleep. It took me years to arrive here, but I am thankful I have this opportunity to practice proper self-care. All of those years of working nights took a toll on me, now I am in restoration mode.

I’ve had to keep giving myself permission to rest. It’s been challenging for me to shift to this mindset of letting go and actually resting. When you are constantly hustling to make ends meet, it’s jarring when you suddenly don’t have to. The impulse is to fill the space with projects and activities because you’re used to productivity. It’s interesting how my body has rebelled against this constant activity, forcing me to rest. I’ve finally given in after ten months of trying to be productive and am viewing it as my chance to rest like I’d dreamed about over this past decade of massive changes in my life.

I’m sleeping in and am giving no effs about it for now. My body has spoken and I’m obedient for the time being until the world opens back up. Then perhaps I’ll be ready to do a little hustling again. For now, I am taking advantage and soaking up all the R and R I can. Every day is sleep-in Sunday until…?