I Went to The Movies On A Monday Morning: The Ultimate Flex

A successfully employed friend asked me to see a movie with her at 10 a.m. on a Monday. And I went.

She gathered seven of us who all have packed calendars and competing responsibilities for a last-minute morning movie. My first reaction was disbelief.  Who does that?  Who can just drop everything to sit in a theater before noon on a weekday?  And a Monday, no less?

But she did it without hesitation. No guilt, no second-guessing. She knew her work would be there when she got back and that no one would fall apart in her absence. She’s earned the trust to make her own schedule, though I’m pretty sure her team assumed she was at a doctor’s appointment.

And somewhere between ordering breakfast popcorn and turning off my phone, I realized: this is the ultimate flex.

Not the kind that shouts how busy or important we are, but the quiet kind. The kind rooted in freedom and the ability to choose how we spend our time. The confidence that the world won’t crumble if we hit pause for two and a half hours.

Ironically, the film (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), was the exact opposite of self-indulgent. It follows actress Rose Byrne who as a mother and psychotherapist is slowly coming undone under the weight of life, caregiving, motherhood, and identity.  Watching her unravel made me think she’s the one who deserved the morning off.

When the credits rolled, I felt a weird mix of gratitude and guilt. Gratitude that I could be there (and that my problems are blissfully manageable compared to what we’d just witnessed). Guilt that I was there. Why did a Monday morning movie feel like skipping class?

No one bats an eye when I’m answering emails early on a Sunday morning or polishing a deck at 10 p.m. But a weekday moment of joy? Suspicious. Like I’m breaking some unspoken productivity rule.

We’ve tied our identities so tightly to constant doing, that even when we have autonomy, we don’t quite trust it. We treat freedom like a privilege instead of a right, as if presence or pleasure needs to be earned.

We say we want balance, but most of us still measure our worth in output. We glorify the grind and quietly shame the rest.

Monday morning reminded me that real success isn’t about how much we can cram into our schedules, but how easily we can make room for life inside them.

The movie ended, the lights came up, and we all sat there for an extra beat before checking our phones. It didn’t feel like a waste of time.
It felt like a reclaiming of it.

From your biggest champion,
Nicole