And I get to stay home.
Most days I stay home anyway because I work at home and am not a student. But when the temperature is in the single digits and snow just keeps falling, I call it a snow day and celebrate that I “get” to stay home.
When I do, it changes everything. I shift away from my to do list, into a mode of play and discovery. What do I get to do next I ask myself, instead of considering all that I have to do.
I remember when I was teaching in a Waldorf kindergarten and we had a snow day. It felt like a gift laid on my doorstep. Although I loved my work, having a day to stay home and do whatever I wanted was a thrill. And I recall an idea that came to me one snow day.
I had been collecting moth-bitten sweaters. When I found wool moths had been feasting on a sweater, I washed and dried it on high heat. In this way, the wool became felted and useful for many projects.
On one snow day, I chose to try out my new sewing maching to make a quilt. I had never made one before, but the materials and the desire to do so were right there and more compelling than the voice that said that I could not do it.
So I went to work, which actually felt more like play. I wish we had a word for work that feels like play. Children’s work is play but when we grow up, we tend to put them in different categories. I suggest that seeing work as what I get to do instead of what I have to do creates a playful mood. In that mood, it makes it a lot easier to get over hurdles that come up along the way.
With the box of felted wool sweaters and a good pair of scissors, I began cutting the felted wool into squares. Then I chose a color pattern and stitched the squares together using my machine. To finish it, I attached a silk cloth to the back of the quilt using the blanket stitch I learned as a girl, a needle and some thread.
It was satisfying to do this project and the results amazed me! I brought the finished quilt into the early childhood programs I taught or administered in. Whenever I saw it, it reminded me of three things:
- The precious gift of a snow day and the privelege of staying home and choosing what I want to do.
- How the mood of play impacts a creative project and support me in ignoring the voice that says I cannot do something.
- What happens when we repurpose things. They are brought back to life and remind us that everything is useful.
Today it is snowy as it was all weekend and will be most of the week ahead. Excluding tasks connected to eating and other health-related rhythms, there is nowhere I have to go and nothing I have to do except what I choose.
Whenever external parameters are not defining my tasks, I am free to do what I wish. I must admit, I have been conflicted in the past about doing what I wanted, as if it required permission to do so. But now I convinced that it is good use of my time. And what better opportunity than a snow day?
I get to decide what I wish to do with the gift that lies before me Today, I am choosing to see with eyes that search for beauty, I am taking it slow, and focusing on inner peace. When I consider something to do, I ask myself if I can do it with joy and love without compromising an inner state of peace. If then and only then, I will do it.
In Steiner-based early childhood programs, we emphasize the well-being of the child rather than “products” typically associated with education. Inspired by those programs, today, I am tending to my well-being instead of material-oriented goals. It just came to mind that before teaching a workshop called, “Care Begins with Me”, I need to prioritize consciousness of care for myself.
It took the quiet, beautiful gift of a snow day for me to realize this. We live in a busy, productivity-oriented world and it might take being unwell or perhaps snowbound for the focus to shift to ourselves.
But what a privelege and honor it is! When the gift of a snow day arrives on my door step, instead of shoveling it away as an unwanted visitor, I am welcoming it.
And what will I do with it? I will fill my cup by going within where my true self, heartfelt desires, and inner peace reside.
After I have filled my cup, it can then overflow into the world, spreading peace, love and connection.
And serve its purpose.
