One Sunday back in June 2007 I was writing in my diary in a cafe near the Pantheon in Paris when I got a text from my friend S. asking me to meet her in the Luxembourg Gardens. When we met up she explained she had a very bad case of the 'Sunday blues' and needed to get out and do something. I saw S. again the next summer when I was back in France, and she explained to me that her Sunday blues had gotten so bad the fall of 2007 (by which time I was sadly no longer in Paris) that she'd started going out drinking every Sunday, mostly only managing to push her blues to Monday.
Though I'd never heard the term 'Sunday blues' before that June day with S., it definitely resonated with me. I have a complicated relationship with Sunday in that my feelings towards it have gone through so many stages. Sometimes I love(d) it, other times I hate(d) it. Since I was a kid though, I have always loved the feeling of Sunday night when Monday is a holiday - that is one of the best feelings! Sundays are always romanticized in songs - a time to laze around in bed and enjoy the fact that it's still the weekend. But somehow the songs always make it sound better than it usually is. Although, all last winter and spring I liked Sundays. They were relaxing, and fun. I could sleep in, take a long time reading the newspaper, do whatever I felt like... And even though I usually did do some work for my Monday classes, I really enjoyed going to work, and didn't feel that much pressure so even when I had work to do on Sundays it was never this really stressful thing. In fact, my Sundays were like the painting below (which I love, and which I have a card of currently on the wall behind my kitchen table in my apt), which is called Sundays at La Rochelle. That woman looks like the epitome of relaxed and like she is very much enjoying her Sunday.
Since September however, Sundays have become quite tough. Truth be told, I've had a bad (and recurring) case of the Sunday blues. The other night C. mentioned how he's been suffering from the 'Sunday Night Crazies' (I love variations on the same thing!) and it actually, though I definitely emphasize with him, made me feel better that I'm not the only person feeling a bit crazy. I've tried to do things to improve my mood like talk on the phone or read the NY Times Style section online but the feeling won't go away. It's very persistent, and has made me really dislike Sundays here. This Sunday I'm determined to go to the library as I feel that sitting around my apt has not been helping. In any event, I'm hoping that it's just a phase and that I'll get out of it soon. At least there's only about a month left in the semester and in the winter, my Monday schedule is much more agreeable than my Mondays are this semester. I've also decided that this Sunday coming up (and the ones to follow) I need to make a conscious effort to look at the woman at La Rochelle on the card on my wall and try to absorb some of her Sunday calming vibe.
Hey, I really loved this entry! Especially the part about how Sundays always get over-romanticized in songs a la Maroon 5 or Jack Johnson... sigh. In high school and undergrad, Sundays were very blue, but this year is the first time I'm finding that I actually like Sundays, because Mondays are one of my favorite days of the week. This is probably because I go out less, and Monday I get to see people, start fresh, etc. But there's always way too much to get done on Sunday to have it be as amazing as the picture you posted.
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