The meaning of Friday
A ramble plus a tarot card
Friday is the sixth day of the week if you begin counting on Monday. For the traditional work and school week, Friday is the last work or school day before the weekend.
Friday means something different to University students than it does to the full-time corporate employee. It also means something different to the youth sports parents than it does to the retired empty-nesters.
Friday for the work-from-home, freelancer or stay-at-home parent also means something different than for anyone who leaves the house every day for work purposes.
And for the self-employed, Friday really doesn't differ from any of the other days.
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I write these words on a Friday morning. It's early and I'm alone in the living room with the beagle. I have coffee and candlelight. Only the fairy lights provide a warm but dim glimmer through the home casting shadows over all the mess and clutter I am determined to deal with today before I sink below the proverbial surface into the depth of despair.
(You can see for yourself in this video on my YouTube channel.)
This is how I begin most of my mornings.
Etymology
The name "Friday" comes from Old English Frīgedæg, meaning "day of Frigg" (or Freya), a Norse goddess associated with love, fertility, and destiny.
In many cultures, Friday symbolizes relaxation, social gatherings, and preparation for the weekend.
There is of course also religious significance; Friday is the day of prayer in Islam and the day of Jesus’ crucifixion in Christianity.
There is also an astrological, or planetary, connection. Friday is ruled by Venus, the planet of love, creativity, and pleasure. This makes it an ideal day for self-care, romance, artistic expression, as well as gratitude. People often perform love rituals, beautification practices, or financial manifestation on Fridays.
Tarot
I asked my tarot cards to give me the meaning of Friday, specific to today. What do we need to know about Friday?
The Seven of Cups arrived clearly and prominently. Choices. But also water. Cups represent the element water: emotions, feelings.
The Seven of Cups pictured in this card are filled with a mix of desirable as well as nefarious items. Its message is:
Be careful what you wish for, be careful what you choose. Not every opportunity offered in the cups is going to lead to your desired result.
Side note: not all tarot cards depict the cups hovering over water in their artistic representation. In the original Rider-Waite deck, the cups float on clouds, pointing to references of illusion, or maybe wishful thinking…
However, I found it interesting my card with the water instead of the clouds appeared given I had just made a reference to sinking below the surface earlier. Sinking of course implies drowning in water.
Isn’t it intriguing how the cards picked up my current sentiments…
The promised ramble
As a self-employed, freelancing SAHM, I typically arrive at the end of the traditional work week with a mixed mentality of exasperation and relief. It's winter in Canada currently and there is road salt at every door’s entrance in our small open-concept home. Because we have a dog, the road salt is also scattered across the house requiring regular sweeping or vacuuming.
I'm resigned that this is just the way it is and yet, every time I step on a crunchy road salt kernel, my irritation increases slightly.
It feels like I can't keep up sometimes. And the reason for this is, partly, because I don't have a schedule.
Do people with schedules feel more at peace? Are they more productive? Do they even follow their schedules?
Perhaps the key is in scheduling things, including regular clearning and tidying up.
To be clear: I use schedules and I make lists, but I don't always follow them exactly. I tried planning every aspect of my day by assigning specific periods (10-12) to certain activities (write Substack) on specific parts of my day (Tuesday), but I found this to be counterproductive, almost stressful. What if my words don’t flow on a Tuesday? What if they flow on a Wednesday, the day I had assigned to work on my YouTube channel?
There are too many invariable interruptions to allow for that kind of focus in my current surroundings. (Or, the problem is with me and my precarious lack of focus.)
🎵🎶 It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me…🎶🎵 (Taylor Swift)
So I don't use schedules in that way. I use them more as a guide. This works at least part of the time, but falls completely apart on Fridays.
Concluding remarks
So anyway, Friday has arrived and I feel like I'm slowly submerging, sinking below the surface among all the clutter that has accumulated in this house over the week. Specifically around my work area. (I contribute to the mess and clutter too, namely because there isn't enough space for my various items I require to pursue all my income streams.)
To make matters worse on this Friday, I also had one of the worst sleeps in a long time. I tossed and turned, my body was sore and tingled in places, and there's a pinched nerve in my neck that's bothering me. When I woke up this morning and prepped the room with candles, fairy lights and coffee, I vowed today would be the day to tackle the mess, to clean up and organize, and to take a break from my computer and all addictive apps.
Just as soon as I publish this essay.
How are you spending your Friday?
Thank you for reading!
While you’re here…
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Thank you for reading! Until next time,
Claudette, writing in my open concept home and not in my Room with a Door.
I understand this. I try to keep a balance between scheduled and free time on my calendar. It comes down to trusting myself to do what needs to be done, but myself can be ornery and just refuse to be productive. I've spent the first few weeks of this month forcing myself to get organized, which made my Friday seem more like TGIF than it usually does. 🍻
I find i don’t do well with too much unscheduled time. Even at work. My adhd will have me spinning in circles. in fact today, I woke up from a nap in the middle of the day. I realized I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I offered Cheryl help in the kitchen and she put me to work! Ha ha.