Without Excuse

Contrary to the running name of this blog, I don’t plan on just writing on Tuesdays and Thursdays (obviously because today is a Wednesday).Writing is a daily activity for me on multiple levels. I would never hesitate to post something just because it was a Monday or a Friday.

The real reason I decided to call my blog Tuesday/Thursday Pen has far more to do with the current cultural way of thinking…or should I say the lack of it. As a society, we have determined that it is often perfectly fine to allow our thinking to be dictated by the current culture or even to allow ourselves to be completely mindless.

On Friday, we have collectively decided that it's perfectly fine to leave our brains at work, between the pages of our textbooks, or on our laptops or iPads (among other places), and venture boldly into society without them. As a result, on Saturday, they often don’t function at full capacity. Sunday is a little harder to pin down, but people still usually think of this day as a part of their weekend and subject their brain to whatever continuing mindset benefits their weekend plans.

Everyone knows the jokes about Monday. As a society, we use Monday as an excuse to be only partly functional, mistake-ridden, and sloppy. I myself fall prey to the phrase, “It’s a Monday,” as if the day of the week in itself excuses my lethargic brain.

Wednesday is affectionately dubbed “hump day,” meaning that it is the middle of the week. People tend to be worn out, tired, and ready for another mindless weekend on Wednesdays.

That just leaves Tuesdays and Thursdays. Admittedly, these days are the only two where we have no excuse not to be functioning in full throttle. “It’s a weekend,” “It’s a Monday,” and “It’s hump day” don’t fly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Of course, we can create any other excuse we want, but that excuse will usually place the blame in our lap or in somebody else’s; it’s not going to be an “it’s-nobody’s-fault” excuse.

Now, I realize that I am overgeneralizing. I am sure that there are plenty of people who work on the weekends. When I was in the working world, I did. Now that I am in school, I use my weekends mainly for homework, like many of you. Several people probably also wake up bright and chipper on Monday mornings, never excuse their mindset to the type of day, and don’t feel exhausted and ready for a break by Wednesday. That would not be me.

My point is that, as a culture, we have unconsciously decided that we don’t have a liable excuse not to be fully functioning on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as opposed to all the rest of the days where we have an excuse that we expect people to understand and accept. This fact also means that our minds could be anywhere, thinking about a myriad of topics, making detailed plans, or contemplating poetry. An openness of topic is beneficial to me. When I decided to do a blog, I wondered what my main themes would be – I wanted to write about many different themes. Finally, I decided that I needed to call my blog something broad, something that would allow me to write about whatever I wanted in whichever style suited me at the time. The fact that someone’s mindset on a Tuesday or a Thursday isn’t dictated by any one particular subject fit my purpose.   

Obviously, I will be writing on other days, not just Tuesdays and Thursdays. My real point is that I don’t have an excuse for not functioning at full capacity every day of the week, nor do I have an excuse not to be thinking about everything critically, logically, and biblically at all times. I should always have a Tuesday/Thursday mindset that doesn’t allow any excuse to worm its way into my thinking. I never have a reason to be mindless or leave my brain anywhere at any time. This mindset is what I wanted to capture when I named my blog. I guess I could’ve also called it “Without Excuse.”