Posted in A Moment in My Life

“TGIF”

A Moment in My Life – Friday, October 16, 2020

It’s Friday! Something about today triggered the TGIF in me. I’ve been disciplining myself into the “work” mindset during the morning hours of each weekday, and it’s worked out well for me. That means it doesn’t matter what day of the week it was. As far as I was concerned, it was a workday. Actually, a serious writer writes every single day, which means there is no such thing as TGIF for them. I consider myself a serious writer but a realistic one. One who lives her life outside of writing. One who takes weekends off because she has a life to live, people to see, things to do outside of writing. You’ve heard me say many times now that life is not a dress rehearsal, and I stand firmly by that. Sure, I want to write, but I want to live my life, too. I want to spend time with people I enjoy being with. I’m still not one of those people who would hire someone to clean my house, yet, so that means I need to make time to tend to those tasks, too. That was a long road to say that I want to live a balanced life.

I’m not sure what happened, but in a way, I’m glad it did. I like feeling the TGIF mode. Although, I hopped onto the lazy-hazy bus, which caused me to arrive here to my writing mode almost two hours behind schedule. Do I care? Today? Not really. I’ll get my column written. After a satisfying week of writing, I am not worried. Today is Friday! I’ll get the work done and head into my weekend.

I remember those Fridays well when I had a day job where I reported into the office. Fridays always had that unique TGIF flare to it where coworkers let their hair down, don their casual attire. My favorite was the Aloha shirt. My friend, Johnny, was the first person I knew who appeared with his Aloha shirt every Friday. He made me smile. He had the coolest Aloha shirts to boot. If we still didn’t get it, almost without fail, someone would bring in donuts or bagels to serenade the day. For real, we’d be humming as we made our selection. It was the one day that people could waltz in when they felt like it or take a more extended lunch, and it was cool. And, don’t forget, there might be a good chance we got off early, too. 

Aw, those were the days when TGIF meant something. Now, I guess it still does, but it’s a bit lackluster when you are remote, away from people in the flesh. Perhaps that’s why Fridays haven’t been any different from any other day of the week for me. I work alone. However, I’ve encountered a few of my friends in the flesh recently. That, along with this gorgeous Indian Summer, reminded me of the joys of Fridays. People make it what it is. The world is so much better having people in it. 

Shelter in Place has its advantages affording us opportunities to bond with family and catch up on mega-tasks that we always put off in favor of external life. Being in solitary has another advantage, and that’s helping us realize the joys of old routines and remind us of what they truly stood for. For me, today, it’s TGIF, and all the precious moments shared with coworkers who extended their creativity, generosity, and kindness to spread the joy of what Friday meant to them. I want them to know that their efforts weren’t in vain. Thank you all who made it fun on Fridays! We didn’t say it out loud every week, but we appreciated it. 

We did it! We made it through the week! Happy TGIF, everyone!

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