Cleaning on the Weekends: Tuesday's Reflection

When I worked full-time outside the home, Saturday morning was

Saturday Morning Vacuuming

most often reserved for cleaning the whole house, top to bottom. At some point during the weekend, I did the grocery shopping as well. Laundry, including ironing, usually was accomplished during the week, but most jobs needed weekend time and energy. 

How long has it been since I worked full-time outside the home? A long time and yet many Saturday mornings I clean. I may also do some grocery shopping on the weekends, but only because I can't seem to get my head around doing a week's worth of menu planning anymore and end up shopping every couple days. What is that about?

Why is it so uncomfortable for me to do something because I feel like doing it now, no matter the day or the time of day? Why is it I can't decide in the present moment what makes most sense right now? And why can't I break out of old routines and stop listening to old tapes? 

Does the house really need to be cleaned every week anyway? If it doesn't get done on Saturday, can't it wait till Monday? Well, no because Monday I volunteer in the school library and on Mondays I write a post for Tuesday's blog and I pay the bills and continue working on my book and…. 

I have told myself week days are for my work as a spiritual director and writer and to participate in volunteer activities. The weekends are for house tasks. The weekends are also when I am allowed to play. If there is time. 

How ridiculous is all that? 

Clearly, I still live within an old pattern and former routines: a division between weekdays and weekends. 

In a few days my husband will be fully retired, and there will be even less reason to structure the week the ways we have in the past. Neither one of us knows exactly what this will mean for our daily life yet. Theoretically, it could mean more flexibility, more availability and spontaneity, and more willingness to respond to the needs and interests of the moment. We have an opportunity to choose what we do and when we do it. 

Here's a thought: I could sit and read a book purely for pleasure on a Tuesday morning, and I could work on a new chapter for my book Sunday afternoon, if I feel like it. Bruce and I could go for a long drive in his little sports car on a Wednesday afternoon, if we want to. We could even go to a movie during the week. The possibilities are endless once we start thinking outside the weekday-weekend box.

Maybe the box I am in is one labelled "The Way It Has Always Been" or "The Way I Have Always Done It." Perhaps it is time to change the label of the box to "Evaluation Time" or "New Possibilities Time." Perhaps it is time to move the box to the garage and instead ask, "Who has God created me to be at this stage of my life?" 

An Invitation

What box are you in and what freedom and possibilities await you outside the box? I would love to know.