Why We Need Snow Days

The first thin, white layer of snow had settled to the ground, reflectively amplifying the dim light of daybreak. The day would go on to produce the biggest snow event in years for Nashville with 7+ inches.

But as I sipped my coffee, my email inbox drew me in, like a flashing light dancing in my peripheral vision. Unseen people had to be, at this very moment, emailing in a virtual stack of questions and requests. And that wasn’t all. Projects needed attention, documents sat half baked in scribbled outlines in my notebook, but there was an obstacle in front of me.

That obstacle was my son. His 4 foot tall body topped with a knit cap, it scrunched together his eyebrows, helping to form an expression at once plaintive and judgmental. His frame pillowed by down clothing, ready for snow in waterproof nylon, he posed a pointed question.

“Will you come outside with me?” he asked, hopefully.

“I have to work right now, son,” I responded determinedly. Through all the insulation, I saw his heart sink as his shoulders collapsed and his face fell.

Outside, 3 inches of snow had already accumulated. Our infrastructure can’t handle more than a dusting without the city shutting down. I knew already that I wasn’t leaving the house today.

I sought a path to productivity anyway. But children have a way of speaking truth to your heart without knowing that they’re doing it. My son’s reaction reminded me that this rare moment, home with him, in a glorious display of what must be nature’s fine china - a pure, crystalline white, blanketing powder from heaven - was different. And so the truth settled in. Productivity is important, but this day held more importance somehow.

In a flash of emotion and logic, a guide for how to live my day formed:

We need to be present

We fill our lives with so much movement that alarm bells go off when we aren’t moving. If life comes to a still, we feel a strange guilt for not doing something, and so we allow our ready appetites to fill any spare moment with one more task, or one more project.

We Don't Control the Universe

Our lives have grown accustomed to what a developed economy with an abundance of technology can do for us. We think that because we can make so many decisions over our day to day activities that we retain enormous power over our lives. But no, when half a foot of snow descends upon the land, we have to give up that control. Our plans, meetings and efforts, some which we designed long ago, melt away.

Creation is Beautiful

We take the natural beauty of the world for granted. So much of what we see everyday is wonderfully made, and yet we glance past it in our great hurry. Snow for us in Middle Tennessee is so rare and so stunning that we can’t avoid confronting beauty. And it relaxes us to see it, touch it, listen to it.

I heard a botanist the other day, a man well on in experience and years, say that he likes to tell people to get their faces out of their phones and “go outside and you will find that the world is in 3D.” It is a great point. Very poignant.

All of this rattled in my head as I surveyed my son. Productivity suddenly had its place: important, vital for life, but only to support relationship. And this child brought me the truth: will you be with me? Will you just go out into the world next to me, and watch what I watch and touch what I touch and let me hit you with a snow ball and laugh as you chase me?

I wasn’t the only one suddenly finding a surge of positive emotions in response to the weather. Looking at tweets from Nashville today show a city of people mostly happy, and mostly calm. This visualization plots emotions based on words people use in their tweets. Active vs calm on the y-axis, and unhappy vs happy on the x-axis.

The imperative to balance life’s work with life’s relationships suddenly positioned itself like a mighty warrior, holding me, my son, and my work together.

I suddenly found a path: 30 minutes with my children, mostly outside, and 30 minutes on work. It was a slower day, but it was a more joyful day. I will trade joy for efficiency.

This is my new personal blog. I realize that due to the limited number of posts, approximately 40% of all posts are about snow.

But that’s not what the blog is about! It is about living an integrated life. If you’d like to follow along, please sign up to receive new posts by email on the form below. I’d be honored to count you as a reader.