Officially a duvet day is “an unscheduled day’s leave from work taken to alleviate stress or pressure and sanctioned by one’s employer”. I’m not an employee, but a retiree who believes days of doing little and nesting; lolling; watching rubbish TV; or whatever floats your boat but doesn’t sap your energy are brilliant!
When I was a worker, my workplace didn’t do duvet days, so when I struggled, my body gave me a blinding headache or diarrhoea to make me stay home. And being quite morally bound – I found it hard to lie. When my body didn’t give way and desperation forced me to lie, I would actually become ill, so I couldn’t get any pleasure out of my misery – no wonder I am fascinated by the amazing links between the brain and health!
Now – I’ve done my research on the science of happiness and how to feel fulfilled and mentally well – I read magazine articles and have radio, TV and the internet – and know that retirement has to be more than hedonism, so I do have commitments. I am learning Welsh, am a member of several social and interest groups, I volunteer, do tai chi qi gong and attend some exercise classes. I am very aware that I choose to do these things, and when I don’t have a commitment to a task or to people I actually remind myself that “there is nothing I have to do, today” and it feels wonderfully liberating. So, each day I am deciding whether to have my planned day, or wallow under my real or metaphoric duvet.
And when I have things I feel I ought to do, or feel time pressure or a commitment to do something, I can get a real pleasure out of a minor illness or inclement weather that keeps me at home with a legitimate reason. At 70, I am lucky to be quite strong and fit but I have never broken a bone, and don’t fancy starting now! So, I have decided to avoid going out in icy weather unless I feel I have to do so.
So having celebrated Christmas with friends, myself, my sister and my lover I had five days to myself with absolutely no external commitments, But of course, everyday stuff and various tasks that have accumulated had to be considered alongside the hedonism. And I settled into enjoying this time as outlined in my Old and New Year activities.
And then my Friday evening was disrupted wonderfully by my sister and plans to star gaze down the coast with a bunch of astronomers! It was great, though cold enough to make me worry about ice, although chips in the car before watching “Traitors” together was fabulous.
I had a restless night and awoke on Saturday with a “scratchy” throat and little energy and decided while not ill enough for a real day off if I was working, it was duvet day territory. And snow and ice prevented even a trip to the shop. So after a lemsip I settled down on the sofa and under my heated blanket for some serous telly-binging. It was great.
To my surprise I got a return of energy and my Christmas tat started calling me and reminding me of the approach to 12th Night – officially the 5th – the Eve of The Epiphany. So I de-Christmased my living room and did some sorting and boxing and felt very virtuous. So – a duvet day where I got a bit of stuff done – all very good as I wondered if scratchy throat was just a passing thing.
Nope! Sunday started with alternating blocked and runny nose plus violent sneezing fits! So once again – although no plans – an excuse to do nothing – not even get my Sunday paper as it was icy again. And – very groundhog day – despite the violence of my symptoms, they stopped quite quicky as I settled for another day of indulgence. And when I was in danger of sofasores, I did some more de-Christmasing and sorting!
I had decided it was definitely a strange blip but over, until I got the return of the scratchy throat at bedtime – Oh, well…
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