The Day Off

A side project that I've had going on is a bit of a dorky one. It's not exactly dorky in itself, but the way that I approach it makes it somewhat dorky. I think this is the most frequent use of the word "dorky" in the span of two sentences I have ever had in my entire life. Dorky.

The project is a work in progress, but I'm trying to craft my own version of "the pastor's day off." As a pastor, you're never really off work. Even in the traditional church, where they strongly prefer you to have fixed office hours, just because I'm not at church doesn't mean I'm not working. So with that being said, it's very rare to have any time off. Whenever I do get to my day off, it is very hard to keep my mind off work. Since my work is essentially my life, even my time off is spent thinking about my work when I am looking after other things.

What I'm continuing in trying to do is to see how exactly I want to spend my day off. In the ideal world, I would just stay at home and watch videos/movies or play games all day. But because I'm now an "adult," I have these things called responsibilities, I think. So while watching videos/movies or playing games would be perfect in getting my mind off of work, it's not exactly practical when I have a lot of things to take care of.

I've tried "eventful day" scenario where I would go to a coffee shop in the morning, do some shopping and eat lunch in the afternoon, and then come home after supper to watch a movie. So basically, I'm spending my day out and about. I'm not doing work, but I still find it rather draining. However, it has also been good because of the fact I'm new to Vancouver. This allows me to get to know the city and see what the people do here. The downside is definitely that I'm expending a lot of energy to do these things. So I end up not feeling rested at all.

Then there's the polar opposite, where I do indeed sleep in until 11:00am, get up and make a cup of tea. I'll then sit in front of the computer for an hour or so to read news and catch up on some videos. And by the time I'm done, it's probably ~3:00pm, right at the start of rush hour. So I think to myself that there's no point in going out anymore, and continue mindlessly surfing the internet. Eventually, most of my friends get home from school or work and I'll start to talk to them, killing more time. One rule I have no matter what is that I'll eat out on my day off. So I'll go somewhere to grab supper anytime between 6:30-8:00pm. Usually, it depends when I get hungry. After I get home from supper, I'm probably going to play some games, and then go back to surfing the web. So these types of days, I feel "rested," but I am literally not productive whatsoever. Not ideal either.

I'm not sure if there is an in between - meaning I haven't found the balance - that would get me the best of both worlds. I've tried going out to run errands and doing whatever in the morning and early afternoon, and then coming home for the rest of the day. I guess it works alright; but I still don't really feel like anything is different from a regular work day. There's something about my mind and body that recognizes routines of "leaving in the morning, coming home in the afternoon" that kicks in to make me think I'm working. Maybe that's just the nature of life and I need to get used to it.

Anyways, I continue to try out different things to make my day off meaningful and not just a "chores day" or an "errands day" where it's just me doing the stuff that gets put in the "other" category.

If you really want to know my answer to a meaningful day off though, it's quite simple. Once the temperature is warm enough, I don't have to think about anything. You know I'll be at the beach with a book and a cold beverage. I'll probably also have a notebook and my camera with me. I'll spend the afternoon there, then grab supper before heading home for the evening. That's what the real day off will be.

Can't wait for the #beachmondays!