Fantastic Friday

It’s Black Friday!

I’ve been seeing this everywhere this week – BLACK FRIDAY!!

Just a quick reminder, folks – I’m currently living in Canada, where yesterday wasn’t Thanksgiving and today is not a holiday. Apparently, in an effort to keep the good people of Canada from driving across the border, or at least clicking their mice and spending their credit card dollars on websites across the border, Candian retailers have jumped on the “holiday shopping” bandwagon otherwise known as Thanksgiving.

This whole thing is just so wrong on so many levels.

Number one, Fridays are not, never have been and never will be black. They’re green! (Those of you who have been following Gydle for a while may be aware that I suffer from a wonderful condition known as synesthesia.) And since green is my favorite color, Friday is my favorite day of the week. The number 8 is also green, as is the month of February. Except when it’s red. Sundays are the only days that are regularly black. Everybody knows you don’t go shopping on Sunday. Correction: the Swiss know that nobody should go shopping on Sunday. (And I think they’re pretty much the only ones who still believe this.)

Number two, anyone with half a brain knows that the stores all just mark everything up a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving so they can lure shoppers in with deep “discounts.” Once in the store, the poor suckers we’re so flabbergasted by all the “deals” that we buy a whole ton of stuff we don’t need and probably don’t even want. Then we give it to other people for Christmas.

Number three, did I mention that today is not even a holiday in Canada? And what’s more, Canadians are way too nice to fight each other in Walmart over a $15 toaster. They’ll fight over the outcome of a hockey game, I imagine, but a toaster? Please. I can see the retailers are trying very hard to fire all these Canadians up and turn them into competitive shoppers, and it saddens me. It really does. Stay strong, Canada!

I decided to boycott Black Friday. Instead of shopping, I would spend my morning going to a Kundalini Yoga class – yes, the very class that so discombobulated me a few weeks back. It’s Personal Challenge Time. Now that I have a better idea what is supposed to be going on, I feel like I might be able to relax and enjoy it a bit more. Thank you Wikipedia.

I got there plenty early, so I could set up my mat at the very back of the room. I had a wonderful long chat with a woman from Uruguay who has lived in Vancouver most of her life. “You ready for this?” she asked, by way of introduction. I laughed. I understood immediately. Yes, this time I think I’m ready.

All those huffy puffy breathing exercises and endless lifting of the arms and dancing and chanting – it all started to make sense as I visualized the coiled bundle of energy at the base of my spine awakening, rising up and inflaming my spirit. That sounds a little “woo”, but it really did feel great. With the sweat running down my arms and into my eyes, I sang along with the music at the top of my lungs, I danced with my eyes closed, I let it all out. And since I’m not normally that kind of person – I’m a pretty straitlaced, hold-it-all-in kind of gal – this was quite an experience. It was fun!

I think from now on, my Fantastic Fridays will include a Kundalini class. Wild women, here I come!

And now I have a confession to make. After class, I went shopping.

See, I only have one sleeveless t-shirt, and it’s a horrid pale pink color that blends in with my pallid winter skin tone, making me look like a big earthworm. I only bought it because it was on sale for $10 at Costco. I don’t normally wear sleeveless t-shirts because I have a thing about my upper arms. But I think these yoga classes are doing something to me. I’m starting to feel more at home in my body. I don’t really care if my upper arms aren’t perfect. I just want to feel comfortable doing my yoga. And since some of these yoga classes are quite the sweat generators, a sleeveless shirt is really the most comfortable way to go.

So the shopping was both a good thing – Yay! I’m accepting my body the way it is! I’m going to wear a sleeveless shirt! — and a bad thing – I had planned to boycott Black Friday. But as so often happens when I make plans, life has  away of intervening.

I’m going to go with the green here and call it a good day. A couple sleeveless shirts can’t foil my Fantastic Friday. Merry Christmas to me.

Namasté.

4 thoughts on “Fantastic Friday

  1. Best laid plans are made to be ADJUSTED as necessary. Hearty congrats to you — keeping it GREEN on not-black Friday. Rock on, yoga girl.

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