The Weekly Boundary

Between life and work, between loved ones and colleagues, there is Sunday night.  The workday is structured, monitored, deadline-driven. Weekend chores and errands get done, but at a more leisurely pace with time for creativity and true human interaction.

The physical boundary between job and not-job is the East River, which separates my borough from the one I work in. Manhattan is the home of commerce and wealth. Queens is mostly residential, containing some of the dwindling number of areas where a working class person can live.

I am grateful for the work. It challenges me and exposes me to new ideas and technologies. But oh, the weekends! I can see, or at least speak with, people who care about me.

Today’s dance class beat me up, but the instructor/friend and I wandered around a local street fair afterwards. I sang (in public!) with a guitar player advertising a music school. I bought crystals. This is all the complete opposite of the constant pressure to prove myself worthy of employment.

The Sunday night boundary is a transition, a behavior shift. Here’s to a great week.