We had a big snow over the weekend – a little over a foot of the stuff – the first big snow storm in my city in quite a while.
While we’d had plenty of warning – the news outlets had reported how quickly groceries and other basic commodities were flying off the shelves on Friday – I’m noticing that there’s been something different about this experience. Maybe we’re just out of practice dealing with this extreme, but the snow is seeming to be to make people more likely to help each other, talk to each other and hang out.
Just this morning, I met a neighbor for the first time who moved in 6 months ago, and helped another neighbor’s son shovel out their sidewalk – all just because we were outside. We took our kids sledding on the neighorhood golf course and easily struck up conversation with other sledders. As I’m typing this, I’m watching a group of neighbors gather on the corner and talk while their kids build a snow fort. People are seeming more friendly and more willing to smile.
Commuters will grumble tomorrow, but today the snow is an excuse for a big party, and everyone’s out in it, loving it up. Maybe it takes a big snow – something just enough out of the ordinary – to help us remember our humanity and our basic connection to each other.
Before specializing as a professional coach in 2004, I spent more than a decade in leadership, management and program development for state and local government and non-profit organizations. Now I get to help leaders and teams have more clarity and ability to stand up for what's important in their work and in their organizations. Working with me, leaders and teams find more meaning and purpose, feel happier and more confident, navigate change and conflict, and work together better.