Blessings in a Blizzard
“The snow is coming! The snow is coming! The Chicken Littles of the meteorology world warned us. And snow it did. For two days, life as we know it came to a slow crawl. And in our technology driven let’s-get-it-done-yesterday mindset, the blizzard of 2011 forced us to slow down, face our humanness, and show our humanity.
As we un-thaw, working to throw off the heavy blanket of snow covering the city left by this century’s first blizzard, we return to our normal heightened sense of urgency, and I’m taking this moment to reflect on how the storm caused me to pause and count the blessings of the blizzard.
I woke up Wednesday morning, a peace washing over me, as I drank in the beauty of the natural phenomenon—pure and still. Later, when the afternoon sun showed herself across the expanse of whiteness covering everything, people emerged to shovel, dig out, talk, laugh and marvel in the magnificence of it all.
My niece cooked lunch, and as we ate, I chatted with my nieces and nephews—something I don’t get to do regularly enough, even though we live in close proximity. Between phone calls and text messaging, I touched base with people I haven’t regularly communicated with in days or weeks.
Yes, I know that we were buried in snow. Yes, I know that I was fortunate because I work for the school system, and I didn’t have to brave the elements and try to get to work. I know all that. But what I know most of all is that the blizzard gave me an opportunity to slow down from the normal hectic pace of life in the 21st century. It gave me time to connect and reconnect to what’s really important: my well-being and that of family, friends and my fellow man.
No rushing. No hurrying. We had to just be. And for that, I am grateful.
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