On Friday I was driving to work thinking about the 20 things on my "To Do" list that had nothing to do with work. "Luckily it's Friday," I think, "so I have the weekend to get stuff done." This thought depresses me though. After a long week I don't want get anything done except put my feet up, have a glass of wine (or two!) and share some laughs with friends.
Even as the small, spontaneous part of my brain is relishing a casual social evening, the rational, fastidious brain argues against it. "Having people over is a lot of work. First you need to clean your house. Then plan the menu, grocery shop, cook, walk the dog, shower...you're tired. Cozy up in your p.j's, order a pizza and go to bed early."
Surprisingly, spontaneous brain battles back. "Friday Friends are different. They don't care about your list of chores."
I have certain criteria for my Friday Friends. Friday Friends are not coming over to judge the cleanliness of my house or the quality of my culinary skills. Friday Friends don't mind that we keep the lights low to camoflauge a week's worth of dust and dirt. Friday Friends don't expect the colors of a fresh flower centerpiece to echo the theme of the matching cocktail napkins. Friday Friends dress casually and keep me company while I boil water for spaghetti. And last, Friday Friends know that I start yawning a lot around 9:00 pm. They pretend to be tired too and head on home for the night.
Friday Friends don't care about my list of chores. They love me for who I am.
With that, spontaneous brain won rational brain over. We invited some friends to join us for dinner. I explained the principles of Friday Friends to our guests. They followed most of the rules, except that we were having so much fun I forgot to start yawning at 9:00 pm.
Our friends only had one question: "Why limit the rules to Fridays?" They love us just the way we are-- every day of the week.
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