Sunday Blues: The Melancholy On Sundays

For many people Sundays are of great significance. It is a day that scares many because of the emotions that this day brings to them. Many of us experience that typical melancholy on Sundays, the Sunday blues. But for others, the last day of the week is a time to recharge their batteries and be present.

On Sundays, many people feel restless and anxious. The day overwhelms us with nostalgia and truth. In a way, it’s like Sunday punching us in the face with a firm dose of reality. “Here I am, here is your freedom, here is you, here is your life.” It’s the end of a cycle, the end of the week.

Sundays show us, as it were, everything we didn’t want to think about. You can compare it to opening a drawer that we tried so hard to keep closed all week. But it’s almost like magic because on Sunday the drawer always opens again. It’s a moment to unlock it and let out everything we didn’t want to feel.

On the other hand, Sunday is a bit of a paradox. Because often that day we are the most tired. We wonder how the hell we’re going to be able to start another week like this. But on Sunday we are of course tired because our schedule looks different during the weekend. These changes cause our bodies to lose their sense of direction a bit. Sometimes it’s because we rest too much. Another explanation is that the change from stress during the rest of the week to the weekend was intense.

Where does that melancholy on Sundays come from?

Sunday makes us think about life. Then there is nothing to distract us or stop us from thinking. This is your life, this is who you are. You are, as it were, put in the nude and left defenseless for an uncertain future. On Monday we will put on our work clothes, literally and figuratively. As we go back to work, we’ll find distractions for the Sunday blues.

By staying busy we find peace, meaning, direction and stability. We mean something, we have a purpose. We have a place in the world. We too are a grain of sand that helps to build society. It is a society full of people who fear the moment when their lives will be revealed for what it is. We are people who, however contradictory, are terrified of freedom.

Erich Fromm pointed to this situation in his work ‘The Fear of Freedom’ (1941).  Here he highlights this strange paradox between the desire for freedom and the fear of it and the responsibility it entails. When I am free, I am fully responsible for my existence and my choices. In this abyss I must reinvent myself. This causes intense misery, unease and insecurity.

Sometimes we try everything possible to avoid the Sunday blues

We feel an emptiness that fills with melancholy. It is a melancholy that appears in this frightening last day of the week. And we call that day Sunday. Sundays are a kind of no man’s land between what we are in society (our professional role) and what we are deep inside. Our basic loneliness stares us right in the face. We don’t want to see that loneliness.

Sometimes we push that loneliness away and look for any companionship. We do everything we can to not be alone. Because when we’re alone, we feel the blues overtake us. So we will do everything possible to avoid these feelings. Maybe we sleep all day. Or we spend our time in the company of people who have nothing to offer us. Sometimes we just try to be busy.

Many people who are addicted to work cannot bear the idea of ​​spending a full day without working.  Because a day without work means they are confronted with the truth about who they are. They will find themselves running away from themselves. Fanatical activity fills us with life because we are busy and feel useful. But it also removes us from who we really are. It keeps us at a distance from our loneliness and unease.

Work distracts us from who we are deep inside

Working helps us to avoid the melancholy and fear that appear on Sundays. But everything we try so hard to cover will eventually show up when we least expect it. That is why it is important to take an honest look at what is happening inside you. Otherwise we won’t be able to make the best of what we’re trying not to see.

It makes sense that we feel this way on Sundays. We may be coming back from a trip. It is also the day before our busy routine starts again… This inner storm has meaning and has a feeling. This feeling is not always obvious. It is important that we live as useful beings who seek meaning and believe in it, who look for constructive material.

At the same time, it is also important that we as humans take care of our human nature. We can thus understand these natural reactions that occur abruptly and/or repeatedly. By listening to our fear and our melancholy, by cherishing and accepting it, it will become more bearable and definitely more satisfying.