Snow Day

This weekend is an excellent time for hibernating in Minnesota. About 8-10 inches of snow has already fallen, another six inches is on the way, and then the strong winds and arctic cold blast will soon swoop into the Twin Cities. So, if you didn’t stock up on beer, carbs, and coffee last night at your local grocery store, chances are that you are S.O.L. for a few days until all the snow plows, snow blowers, and snow shovelers have restored order to the white washed chaos outside.

Moroho refuses to spend much time outdoors and I’m not sure if he can lift his leg high enough to pee on the snowbanks. The snowbanks are very, very high and getting higher by the minute. I’m even less sure how he’ll negotiate a number two. Somedays it just sucks to be a transplant from Africa, even though Minnesota is a land of milk and honey (ie, Chuck n Don’s Pet Store). Right now he’s curled up by my feet, snoring. Cozy. Dreading the implications of a full bladder.

I’m also curled up with my laptop, wondering if I should blog about workplace dynamics or finding my professional self. I think an awful lot about who I am professionally and where I want to go professionally and it consumes so much of me. I hardly think the worry and panic is worth the energy, mostly because I’m unconvinced that being a Miz Big Shot equates to being a good person. Also, I don’t think that measuring myself by a series of job titles or performance reviews is indicative of whether or not I’m accomplishing meaningful life goals. Sometimes I think I get bit off-track by comparing myself to others’ achievements and waiting around for my professional peers to validate me.

What I’m trying to do is find a few good hobbies. I definitely have two hobbies that have developed recently: practicing Yoga and learning German. Perhaps this seems like an odd combination, but it works for me. Both keep me active - one physically and one mentally - and both help me filter out all sorts of insecure noise so that I can focus on one thing in the present moment. When I was younger, I used to get the same feeling from drawing still lifes: it was just me, a pad of paper and a graphite pencil, and my hand and eyes tracing the lines of the objects before me. Everything else vanished for an hour.

Quieting my mind is bliss. I don’t know if you’ve tried to kick up into a headstand with grace and ease, but I’ve found that I need to be fully immersed in the moment when I do. My mind and body sync together, scanning my forearms, head, shoulders, core, hips, and legs to make sure I’m balanced. I don’t think about anything else other than breathe. I don’t know if you’ve tried to learn a new language either, but I also find that I need to be awfully focused in order to figure out where Bitte bleiben Sie am Apparat fits into a telephone conversation.

The freedom to make lots of mistakes while learning something new is also bliss. Like a baby taking its first steps or learning its first words, I am constantly toppling over in yoga or mispronouncing or misspelling words in German. Yet no tells me to stop trying; my yoga instructor will simply adjust my pose or friends will correct my German. And, as far as I can tell, nobody is jealous when I do succeed. I’m pretty sure my ability to do a headstand or say “Please hold” in German doesn’t threaten anyone. In fact, most people probably consider these accomplishments nice party tricks. I love it.

So that’s my Saturday for you. Shoveling. Hibernating. Ruminating. Rubbing my dog’s belly. Heading back outdoors to shovel again. And again. And again. It’s actually quite nice to be stuck in the house, unable to go anywhere. Like my hobbies, this weather is also creating a place of stillness, where my dog and I can curl up together and enjoy the moment. Fortunately, Joe ran to the store last night to stock up on food and drink, so we are totally set for the weekend. I hope you are able to savor your weekend, too.