Sunday, January 11, 2009

Rainy days and Sunday nights

I hate Sunday night.

Every single week, without fail, for as long as I can remember, I experience a kind of temporary depression that I have come to refer to as the Sunday Night Blahs.

Sometime usually mid-afternoon on Sunday, an air of impending doom begins to set in. A powerless feeling comes over me as I watch the clock tick away, knowing there is nothing I can do to stop it or slow it down. Instead of enjoying the last hours of my weekend, I spend them largely in dread.

I become lethargic, often choosing to lie around watching television for hours, losing little battles as I try and convince myself to get out of bed and be productive. Even when I try and do something, I can never escape the overwhelming sense of time slipping away.

If I'm out on Sunday night, I'm never quite ready to come home. Alone, with friends, or on a date, it's always the same. I just want to drive around for an hour to ward off the inevitable for as long as possible. And some nights I have.

I'm not sure what causes the Sunday Night Blahs. I suppose the obvious best guess would be that it has something to do with the end of the weekend. But I think it's more than that.

Friday is free and full of promise. Saturday still has so much time. Friday and Saturday night, people are out. Places are open later. The streets are alive. But Sunday night is quieter. Lonelier. Emptier.

Sunday night knocks me down. It makes me sad, even when I've otherwise been completely happy and content. It leaves me lonesome, even when someone is lying next to me. It brings to mind things I've tried hard to forget. No matter how well things are going in my life, Sunday night causes me to stall.

A lot of people hate Monday, starting over at the bottom of that hill again. But I never had a problem with Monday. I'll be fine on Monday, because Monday means Sunday night is gone.

And I hate Sunday night.

"Come Monday, it'll be alright. Come Monday, I'll be holding you tight..."

21 comments:

  1. Every single week, without fail, for as long as I can remember, I experience a kind of temporary depression that I have come to refer to as the Sunday Night Blahs.

    I completely agree with you. I hate to see the weekend end. It means, back to school and then when you graduate it's back to work. So for the rest of your life Sunday nights are blah!

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  2. I normally hate Sunday nights, too. But they are much easier to deal with when your football team wins and is headed to the NFC championship game for the 5th time in 8 years! My boss is a Giants fan, so that also made this Monday morning MUCH easier to face.

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  3. real talk? I hate Monday mornings because I make bad decisions on Sunday nights in a sense of rebellion. ugh. I am not doing so hot right now.....

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  4. :(

    This whole post breaks my heart a little.

    Sunday night has always been the worst for me, too. ESPECIALLY, it seems, when I've been with someone before, and then end up alone. I can be out with friends or family, and then going home makes me sad and lonely like no other time in the world.

    I guess unlike you though, I think I always just wish for Sunday nights to hurry up. I try and find small ways to fill the hours, anything to get the time over with.

    I hope you find some way past the SNBs, Bone. We all want you to be happy, seven days and seven nights of the week. (Seven's a good number.)

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  5. OK Chick - So it's gonna be this way for the rest of my life? Great. That's comforting :)

    Susan - I imagine that would help a bit :) Yeah, if there's a ballgame I want to watch on Sunday night, it can postpone the feeling for awhile. But it always returns.

    Cami - Bad decisions? So you chose to not watch the 24 season premiere? Shame shame.

    TC - Dating or single has never affected the Sunday Night Blahs for me. And yeah, it does look like I'd be in a hurry for it to be over. It's sort of like the curse that is the cure, I suppose.

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  6. I think there are many factors that feed into this depression. firstly all the businesses close up early on Sunday if they're open at all. All the sporting events took place during the afternoon so there's no sports to watch...unless you turn to some foreign sports. All television programing is focused on family time. There really isn't quality singleton programing.
    When I met DH he scolded me for whining about having to go back to work on a Sunday once because that was just like his father, only his father had gotten so bad that he couldn't even enjoy Friday night because he knew he had to return to work on Monday!!! (guess who is just like his dad now?) ;)

    I think your condition is normal. Perhaps the best cure is a weekly Festivus or some similar function where you are in a place "where everyone knows your name."

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  7. Sunday nights do that to me too. I always have this moment where I am like, wait! it's Saturday! and then I realize that no, it's Sunday and I cry a little.

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  8. If I am honest I probably do a bit of the same dance on Sunday nights. lol I usually end up curled up in bed on the computer watching tv from 8pm onward (earlier if my family obligations premit it! lol) I LOVE Fridays... I try to do something social every Fri night as it makes the weekend seem so much longer! Usually its playing cards with friends. This weekend we hosted and had 12 for poker... Texas Holdem... Yes, I did take home the pot! Thank you very much! =]

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  9. Leon could have written this years ago, but he finally outgrew it. Actually, I don't know why it changed. So, there is hope, at least in retirement....

    It was Saturday nights I hated when single and between. Sunday nights next because Monday was coming the few years I hated my job.

    Having nothing going on to choose from on Sundays is frustrating for me still. It doesn't matter if I would do them, it is not having the choice available.

    I think your depression is more universal than you thought.

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  10. Renee - Ugh, I dated a girl like that once. She started dreading Monday the minute she got off work Friday. Those were fun weekends, as you might imagine.

    Yeah, a real life Cheers would probably help.

    Sizzle - Good to see you! Long time, no sizzle.

    ArtistFormerlyKnownAs - Planning something social for Friday night is a good idea. It does make the weekend seem longer.

    And I love playing hold 'em! I usually start out doing really well, but as the game drags on, I grow impatient and wind up going all in with unsuited connectors or something.

    Marcia - That's an excellent point. It's all about having the option, knowing there are things going on if you wanted to do them.

    Yeah, apparently it is. I suppose that's one small reason I did this post, to see if anyone else went through the same thing. After all, blah loves company.

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  11. Me too. It's SNSS.

    Sunday Night Sadness Syndrome.

    Now that it's Monday mid day - I feel much better. Only 4 and a half days left this week. Yay.

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  12. I think you feel that Sunday is a bit like death and Monday is a reawakening or the beginning of life

    Another beautiful post by Bone :)

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  13. I'll see your Sunday Blahs and raise you with Post-Holiday Blahs.

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  14. Bone I am so sorry you get the blahs. I like Sunday nights it is actually Tuesday nights that bug me. Go figure. Maybe you will meet Sally-sunshine and you will like Sundays.

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  15. It seems as though you are in good company, Bone! I have similar issues. Like an idiot, I will often stay up until I can no longer keep my eyes open. Just trying to eek a few more minutes from the weekend. Come Monday morning I always regret it.

    One would think that one would learn...but one never does!

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  16. I must be weird, I like Sunday nights. It's my favorite time to read and generally I don't have to worry about calls or folks bothering me... I'm generally an extrovert, but on Sunday night, I get my fill of isolation.

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  17. Maybe it is a global thing. I too hate Sunday Nights. I listen to Hard Rock to keep myself sane!


    Come Monday morning, I am ok.

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  18. Shelby - Ooo, does it really have a name or is that just what you call it? Syndrome sounds accurate.

    Pia - Hmm, interesting theory. I think that's possible. It's the death of something. Something I love very dearly, the weekend. And I suffer through it 52 times a year.

    Doohickie - I'll re-raise you a case of the Januarys.

    PennyCandy - Sally Sunshine sounds a little too bubbly for me :)

    What, now I'm finding fault in hypothetical women?

    SC - Oh, I totally do that, too! Staying up as long as possible on Sunday night for no apparent reason.

    Sage - Send some of that Sunday night cheer my way, will ya?

    Gautami - Well, all these comments have made me feel better. It's nice to know I'm not alone on Sunday nights.

    And yeah, everything is just fine come Monday.

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  19. bone, between our humor and our sunday blahs i think we are two peas in a similar pod!
    I've summed up my SB(sun. blahs)as a feeling of being let down, not satisfied. No matter how much fun the weekend is, it's never filled my constant desire to LIVE it up to the absolute fullest.
    i think the SB's may mean you are searching for much much more than you are getting in life.
    i really was touched by your post. :)

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  20. Sunday is a new day, a new beginning. For me I am always plugging my batteries, preparing for the week ahead on Sunday, which means a quiet day, an early night and bliss. If I don't, if I end up partying on Sundays or having a late night then my week is usually a mess...So I avoid it at all costs.

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  21. Lucy - Sounds like it! I feel a strong bond with anyone who loves Seinfeld and fits Seinfeld references into their blog entries :)

    Actonbell - Haha. It's always nice to have something to look forward to, isn't it?

    UL - Not me. I'm always putting off all those things I should be getting done on the weekend :)

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