
As a kid, I reveled in routine. I also rebelled against it. Especially on Sundays.
After going along with whatever Mom wanted to do Monday through Saturdayāand realizing how much I hated Sunday Schoolāmy Papa Donāt Preach/Personal Jesus father finally put his foot down about going to church and rechristened Sunday as āFamily Fun Day.ā
I celebrated by cutting my clip-on church ties into pieces.
Despite liking a few of the people, I hated church.
I ājust say noā to groupthink and group worship.
My dadās idea of āfunā was sleeping late, having a lumberjack breakfast, and reading the Sunday newspaper cover to cover. He didnāt care what anyone else was doing, but he would be getting up late, making breakfast, eating breakfast, doing the dishes, and reading.
My mom and I were welcome to join in on his brand of āfun,ā but anyone or anything outside of our immediate family of three was not.
āFamily Fun Dayā was more about reading and relaxing than carnival rides or road trips. Sundays were a sacred time to stay in our pajamas and catch up on all our favorite thingsā¦or find some new favorite things. Reading, writing, art, and arithmetic were encouraged. As were bike rides, long walks, and even longer naps.
My dad preferred to read lying across the floor of our living room. I regularly fell asleep reading alongside him, using his belly as my pillow.
LOSING MY RELIGION
This Sunday tradition became a sacred ritualāa mix of quiet rebellion and routine that shaped who I am today. The joy of those days stayed with me even as the circle of life happened and my life became filled with adult boys, adult joys, and adult noise.
For years, I let personal and professional obligations replace peaceful moments of inspiration and reflection. I spent more time scrolling through feeds than flipping through pages. My calendar and to-do list became my Bibles, dictating my every move and leaving little room for the wonderful wanderings that filled my childhood.
And yet, a part of me always longed for the simplicity of those āFamily Fun Daysā.
Like so many of us, I also long for my dad and my mom.
RECLAIMING MY TIME
Recently, Iāve been making a conscious effort to reclaim more of my time. To prioritize reading, writing, and relaxing not as luxuries but as necessities.
It started with an article, then an essay, and ultimately a book. Before I knew it, I was devouring pages like I had as a kid, rediscovering the joy of getting lost in a story.
The writing followed naturally. At first, it was just jotting down thoughts, a few scattered lines in a notebook. But those lines grew into paragraphs, then pages. I started to see the value in creating space for my own voice, unfiltered and unhurried.
As for relaxing, Iām still working on that. Insomnia is a houseguest that wonāt go away, wonāt pay rent, and wonāt let you restā¦for long. But I have been getting more sleep lately, so yay for progress!
BALANCING ROUTINE + REBELLION
What Iāve come to realize is that the balance between routine and rebellion is where my creativity thrives. Routine gives me a solid foundation to build on. Rebellionāwhether itās cutting up clip-on ties or turning off my phone for a few hoursācreates the space I need to dream, to explore, and to question.
Reclaiming my Sundays as āFun Daysāāeven without my parentsāhas been an act of rebellion against the demands of the world. But itās also a return to the routines that nurtured me and allowed me to grow into a man who values creativity and curiosity.
A RETURN TO LOVE
Iāve started to see reading, writing, and relaxing as acts of resistance in a world thatās always vying for our attention. Theyāre a way of saying no to the noise and yes to the messes that matterā¦to me anyway. And maybe, just maybe, theyāre a way of bringing back a bit of that āFamily Fun Dayā to my life.
So hereās to routines and rebellions, to books and blank pages, to dreaming and doing. Hereās to finding our way back to the things that make us feel alive.
And hereās to the hope that, somewhere out there, a kid is cutting up their clip-on ties and skipping church to read, write, and relax. Lifeās too short for clip-on ties.
Thanks for reading and subscribing!
Clint šāļø
P.S. If youāre on Bluesky and/or want to follow my NSFW posts, Iām now using #collidepressnsfw to help find them more easily.
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1790 = Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera CosƬ fan tutte premieres.
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1926 = John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of the television.
1934 = The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, NYC.
1971 = Look Magazine includes Jack Baker and Michael McConnell as part of its cover article on āThe American Family.ā Baker and McConnell are the first same-sex couple in the US to be granted a marriage license.
1979 = The Dukes of Hazzard premieres on CBS.
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2010 = "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and featuring BeyoncƩ is released.
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Absolutely love this glimpse of your childhood, Clint - curled up with Dad reading is a very special memory. Thanks for sharing! š