Thank God It's Friday
On the interesting nature of days of the week
TGIF, the American chain diner, ruined a great phrase. I feel like American business is very good at doing that with ideas, concepts, and even movements. Take something that makes people feel a real sensation - something meaningful - and convert it into something that makes money for a small group of people for a while. Meanwhile, The whole original idea is perverted, monetized, and ruined.
The idea that the work week is done and slaves get to enjoy a few days (or a few hours) of freedom from wage drudgery was a good one. I’m old enough to remember when people would say TGIF and not mean the corporate chain that was just like a bunch of others that sprang up in the 1990s (Applebees and some others that I don’t remember because they aren’t relevant to keep in my brain files).
The US did the same thing with Labor Day. Turned it from a day celebrating workers and the essential nature of their contributions to society into a time to drink branded beer at a lake. Yoga and mindfulness come to mind as things that were ruined by business - I’ve spent time talking about these things before.
The idea of Friday itself is probably something that has been ruined to some extent as well. Most people I know don’t really have weekends any longer. The origins of the days of the week are something most people never give a thought to.
Sunday, named for the Sun. Should Sun be capitalized in this case? In fact, it was named and meant for the worship and appreciation of the sun god. Apollo. When you go deeper, the Sun is probably the physical thing most worthy of worship in our world since it forms the basis for all life on the planet. Creates the conditions necessary for life. Feeds the plants which feed us all. A fitting day of worship. Also, you have to love a day of worship that is designated as a day of rest.
Monday gets a bad rap. Named for the Moon. Somehow associated with the return to work after the day of rest. Everyone hates Mondays - which isn’t very fair. I use Mondays to work, I publish my Letters from Exile on my Mondays - which given my semi-nomadic lifestyle, shifts depending on which side of the dateline I am on.
Those two were named after Roman Gods. The only other Roman god who still has a day of the week is Saturn. Given the nature of Saturnalia, parties and such, it makes sense that Saturday is what it is.
I’m not sure why midweek days all get named for Norse gods. Tiw is the Norse god of war. Maybe Marsday sounds too much like Monday, so Tiwsday was a better replacement.
Wednesday has long been my favorite day of the week. Known as hump day, it is named for the one eyed Raven loving uber god of the Northmen, Odin. Wodin’s Day. I use Wednesday to publish my Wandering Jeans bits which are just essays on long term travel and semi-nomadic lifestyle.
Thor isn’t just a marvel hero. The god of Thunder. I’ve never been a huge fan of Thor (the comic or the God) the most overrated God and Hero - just like ThorsDAY. It’s a day when energy is low and the only thing that matters is the end is near. Yawn.
The Cure have a great song called Friday I’m in Love. Which is pretty fitting because Friday is named for Freya, the Norse god of love. Did the Romans call it VenusDay? Sounds awkward, imo.
I’ve been using Fridays here to share my fiction for quite a long while. As far as I can tell, people mostly don’t read it. There are other things I am interested in and want to share. I want to go more deeply into sharing the ideas around Baoism. I want to share my thoughts about AI and how it is reshaping our world. I also want to share videos on my travels. I’m not sure how to fuse those things together but this is where Fridays are going
It’s funny, I’ve given myself this job. I barely make any money at all from it. I can’t seem to get any traction or engagement beyond a core group of supporters, but the work is important to me. I’ve been consistently providing this work to the world for more than a year. I take it very seriously. I think that’s a pretty good example of the fact that work has a lot more meaning than money.
Maybe that’s what Fridays are all about. Meaning. Thank God It’s Friday. I need to reclaim this from corporate American business. Welcome to Thank God It’s Friday. Weekly on Indignified Substack.
