It’s over. That’s the end of the 4 day week. It won’t come back again until May now. And that seems like so far away – seems like it, because it is. But it’s not just sadness that one feels when experiencing a post holiday blues…it’s a mixture of emotion that comes in stages. Stages that may be easier to overcome if we were to acknowledge and try to understand them. But just like the way the bottom of your toilet looks after 4 days of heavy eating and drinking…it’s never pretty.
1. Realisation
[GifSoup]The realisation that it’s all over is the hardest part of the whole ordeal. That dull ache in the bottom of your stomach (an empty void that not even countless mini eggs could fill), the sting of tears that come with the remembrance of happier times when your biggest problem was how much sleep is too much. Not even this squirrel touches upon the dramatic nature of said realisation and the insatiate sadness that is to follow.
[Giphy]*Cue you moping around your house in unwashed bunny pjs, dragging behind you the special egg basket that the cats now use as a bed, muttering between sobs “long…weekend”* With the shock of the realisation over, all that is left is a shadow of your former holiday self and some stale hot cross buns. We don’t know which is more sad. That, or the fact that work starts again TOMORROW…waaahhhhhh!
3. Guilt
[The Humorous]All. of. that. sleep. All. of. that. chocolate. All. of. that. TV. None. of. that. work…
The post-bank holiday blues brings with it an overwhelming feeling of guilt, (whether or not you did indeed rig the Easter egg hunt so that you’d beat Uncle Jim). He deserved it, anyway. And it just so happens that you have your jeans to remind you of exactly why you are feeling like that. Lucky you.
4. Uncertainty and Confusion
[Giphy] You haven’t felt this emotionally confused since…well, ever (let’s not get into that…) but this roller coaster of a 4 day weekend has left you unsure about what day of the week, month or even year it is. You’re also uncertain about what the future holds, because an emotional rollercoaster brings everything under scrutiny. Everything.
5. Nostalgia
[MinaKushFC]‘Memories…all alone in the moonlight…’ that time your mum fell off her chair laughing because she’d had too much sugar? When your brother filled up your drink for you without even asking? When you opened that gold foil wrapping and smelt the chocolatey goodness inside? All. gone. now. Faded clouds of what once was that are slowly dissipating into what is no more…never to be experienced or touched or even thought of in the same way again. It hurts. Boy, does it hurt. But we think back with a taut wry smile, thankful for having ever experienced it in the first place…