Spending several days trapped inside in a historic snowstorm helped me understand how to let go of the stress of life and apply a little mindfulness to living in the moment.
Sound crazy? Well, I spent the Christmas and New Year’s holidays in Erie, Pennsylvania where five feet of snow fell in two days and nine feet over the course of the week. It was beautiful and a bit frightening. We couldn’t leave the house as the police were issuing fines to any cars driving without snow tires or chains on their tires and, frankly, no one would have wanted to venture out and drive in that weather.
When I say “we” I mean myself and my 84-year-old mother. When Mother Nature made it impossible for me to go out for drinks with friends or go shopping for good deals, we opened a bottle of wine, put on our pajamas and watched lots of Hallmark movies, all the while talking, chatting, and relaxing.
It made me mindful that life is short. Stopping all the madness of daily living to focus on the people in our lives that we love and don’t get enough one-on-one quality time with is really important. Perhaps Mother Nature knew that better than I and decided to give me the opportunity to take a break, quiet my mind, and just be with my mother.
I eventually went back to my job and my daily life the better for having done so.