Sundays and Silver Linings
“What, are you kidding me? Sundays? I love Sundays.” Ever since Sundays made an appearance on human calendars, they have been sacred, both literally and symbolically. We’ve used them for prayer, reflection, family time, errands, catching up on the work of life and catching up on sleep. They’re the bookends of our weeks—the reset button. And no matter who you are or what situation you’re in, you’re probably experiencing Sundays a little differently now.
Sunday is my favorite day of the week, which is something I have in common with Pat Solitano, the protagonist played by Bradley Cooper in one of my favorite movies, Silver Linings Playbook. I’ve watched that movie twice in the last two weekends, and I don’t know if it’s the killer soundtrack, the acting or the juxtaposition of raw emotional struggle with upbeat dancing, but it’s bringing me massive comfort in this time of uncertainty and fear.
Excelsior, an old-world term meaning “ever upward” or “still higher” is Pat’s motto in the film. He’s up against some pretty deep trouble—with his own mind, with the law, with his marriage and with his parents—and yet this is his motto. Excelsior. Ever upward. Still higher. He uses it almost like a safeword when things get intense.
“It means I’m gonna take all this negativity, and I’m gonna use it as fuel and I’m gonna find a silver lining, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
In my third favorite scene, about 10 minutes in, a paperback copy of A Farewell to Arms is flung through a window, shattering the glass at 4am the first night Pat is home after spending months in a mental hospital. In his fury, Pat storms into his parents’ bedroom, recounting his frustrations about Hemingway’s choice to end the novel in heartbreak.
“I mean, the world’s hard enough as it is, guys. Can’t somebody say, let’s be positive? Let’s have a good ending to the story?”
[Language disclaimer: there are adult words in this video.]
But here’s the thing. Stories don’t always have happy endings, in literary classics or in real life. For all its merits in showing what real mental illness is like, Silver Linings Playbook sort of gets its own ending wrong. It fails to teach us that sometimes (actually, most of the time) what pains us can’t be magically cured by running or dancing or falling in love or sheer will or crabby snacks and homemades. We can’t expect to live in a human world without struggle, just like we can’t expect the skies to be clear and sunny every day. Life is not without its storm clouds, and as Pat says, “It’s a lot to deal with, especially when you don’t know what the hell is happening.” But we can accept the struggle and the storms and the clouds, and we can look for silver linings.
So while we’re all under orders to stay home, let’s take our Sundays and use them as the reset buttons they were meant to be. Let’s take the negativity we’re feeling and use it as fuel. Let’s choose to do, say and think things that ground us. Let’s rest. Let’s look for the silver linings. Let’s challenge ourselves to be ever upward. Still higher.
“The world will break your heart 10 ways to Sunday, that’s guaranteed. And I can’t begin to explain that, or the craziness inside myself and everybody else, but guess what. Sunday’s my favorite day again.”
P.S. If you’re looking for a little silver lining moment, watch my #1 favorite scene and try not to smile.