I was watching a movie the other day that my wife put on that started with a girl about the last day of her life. It was full of angsty, teenage girl problems and tried to get deep about life, love, bullying, family and living life to the fullest. The storytelling hook they used was as old as time. Or at least 1993. If you’ve ever seen Groundhog’s Day you know it’s about repeating a day over and over again until you get it right. She had to repeat the last day of her life until she could be nice to her family and friends or they wouldn’t let her die in peace.

Ever since it was Bill Murry movie, the film trope has been used to death over and over and over again, which is ironic, don’t you think? Hallmark has used it at least a dozen times to help them tell the story of a frustrated “girl from the city” that “moves to the small town” and has to “pick the right guy” in order to advance to the next day on the calendar. Hallmark movies in general are so much of a Groundhog’s day that anyone could predict the plot as soon as the movie starts.

The Groundhog’s Day movie was so impactful that it swallowed the actual holiday and animal whole and changed its meaning into a “this week is turning into a Groundhog’s Day” instead of a day that tells us if spring is happening today or in six weeks.

As self-proclaimed expert in the study of Bitter Arts, I dug deep into why the subject of Groundhog’s day is so relatable. How did this little comedy centered around a simple concept of reliving a day over and over again captured the imagination of so many people that the mere mention of the word Groundhog’s day gets many people to think of a repeating day?

It’s a simple, yet complex answer. It’s because for most of us, this is a reality, whether we like it or not. Yes, there are some Instagram influencers that “grab life by the horns and make sure everyday is an adventure” and they do their best to squeeze every drop of life like trying to get the last big of juice from a grapefruit, but getting that last drop can be exhausting. There’s an occasional billionaire that does something new everyday, and lives life on the edge.

But for most of us, a January day at 10:05 am can look eerily similar to a February day at 10:05 am. I now have a lot of evidence of that. I have this app called BeReal that will pick a random time of the day and demand you “take a picture right now or the world will burn!” It’s an attempt to be the anti-Instagram by challenging you to take a picture of yourself in real situations, not allowing you touch up your make up or go somewhere that looks like you are on a beach or hiking. I work really hard to be on the couch doing nothing, and usually succeed, but every once in a while it catches me doing things like running on the treadmill. I hate that, because it shows me looking active, and I don’t want people to know that I actually do things. They might get the wrong impression about me.

I’m glad that most of the time I’m doing the same thing at the same time every day. Basically, it’s evidence that I spend most of my days doing the exact same thing at the same time every day. If you were to look at my 2023 review, you would see me sitting on the couch watching TV about 90% of time. The other 10% would be me laying on the couch.

The reason why I can relate to the Groundhog Day concept is because almost every day feels like the same day, which I love.

I wake up at the same time, I workout at the same time, I get to work at the same time, I go home at the same time. My wife makes fun of me for what she calls my OCD. I blog, eat pizza and stay up late playing video games on Fridays. I’ve been playing the same Gears 5 game since 2019, played Gears 4 before that since 2016, and Gears 3 before that since 2011 before that. With minor upgrades, I’ve been playing the same game since 2011, meaning that I’ve been playing that game longer than a lot of Gen Z’s have been alive.

I have a huge Spotify playlist, but my favorite playlist is the On Repeat one, because I find a song and squeeze every bit of life out of it until I learn to hate it and it becomes my worst enemy. It’s harder to get on my Spotify list than it is to get an invitation to the Met Gala.

Then there is the Office. I’ve watched every episode of The Office so many times, that I started assigning members of my office as characters in the Office. If they go out of their way to sabotage my career, they are Toby, and I will give them a rock and tell them to suck on that. If they are a bumbling, yet funny and charming boss, then they are a Michael Scott. If they are a funny teammate that likes to flirt with the receptionist, they are Jim, etc. Anytime someone mentions something burning, I will yell out, “We will burn Utica to the ground,” or if they say they they are “Declaring Bankruptcy” and someone says you can just say you’re bankrupt and make it happen, I will say, “I didn’t say it Oscar, I declared it.”

I know the point of Groundhog’s Day is to do something different, try something new, to break out of your routine, and some people will be inspired to try that. Some people will spend time trying to do something new everyday, and for those people, I wish you all the bad luck in the world.

I’m going to stick my routine of posting bitterness every Friday, because people might think I was dead if I didn’t. I’m going to continue to go work every day because if I don’t, my kid won’t be able to eat out everyday for lunch instead of eating school lunch every once in a while. I’ll continue listen to my favorite playlist on repeat because it gets me through the boring parts of the day.

And I’ll continue to stay up late playing video games until the day I die, because studies have shown playing video games keep your mind sharp and help you avoid memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s at an older age. And I believe any study that agrees with my philosophy.

And the pizza on Friday? Well that is my treat for having to grind through yet another horrible week of routines and doing things for other people, and eating bland foods to stay fit…ish.

So enjoy your Groundhog’s Day, your routines, and your Bitter Friday Giftures…

This used to be the one reason…

Until Bill Murray came along…

And we laughed and laughed at him…

Until some of us went home from the movie…

All the days are indeed…

And some people got horrified…

And there were others like me…

I listen to the same…

I watch the same…

I do the same…

I play the same video games…

Because I respect the Groundhog’s philosophy…