Even the most diehard fans of summer have to admit that there is a peacefulness and beautifulness to falling snow. It softens the scenery around you. It brightens the landscape. It covers all the things laying around your yard that need to be put away, taking away the guilt at least until the snow melts.
But snow also scientifically changes the world around you, literally making it quieter.
Snow makes things quiet because the snowflakes’ porous structure, filled with tiny air pockets, effectively absorbs sound waves, trapping them within the snow and preventing them from traveling further. Essentially, the sound gets caught in the spaces between snowflakes instead of bouncing off hard surfaces. Hence, the peacefulness while it is snowing.
That peacefulness should not be underestimated.
With all the news and information and social media constantly surrounding us, we need that peacefulness more than ever.
I am guilty of filling my day with pointless memes, countless news articles, and endless social media posts. We no longer know how to be bored. We no longer know how to entertain ourselves. And we no longer just stop and think, for even just a few minutes, without a distraction. I cannot be the only person who gets distracted by a cat video, otherwise there wouldn’t be millions of them filling our feeds.
There are constant sounds, even multiple layers of audio sometimes, that surround us. There are screens everywhere, from a grocery store to a street corner, that are vying for our attention.
And these interruptions are affecting us even when we aren’t staring at a screen. Our attention spans over the past 20 years have dropped from 2 ½ minutes to 45 seconds. I couldn’t even finish that previous thought without taking a break. I stopped in the middle of typing that last sentence to take a video of a squirrel frolicking in the snow outside my window.
What used to come naturally - quiet time and consequently focusing - now needs to be intentionally set aside.
Quiet, uninterrupted time is important because it can help you relax, reduce stress, and improve your focus. It can help you process information. It can help you sleep better. And perhaps most importantly for me, it can help you be more creative.
I often get asked how I come up with the ideas for these columns or how long it takes for me to compose a typical piece. One response can answer both those questions: By setting aside time for quiet, uninterrupted thinking. If I purposely do that, I can usually easily come up with a column idea and it doesn’t take me long because the words just start forming in my head.
For me, swimming laps in the pool is where I find it easiest to think. With your face submerged in the water, it is difficult to talk to another person so it is just you and your thoughts. Most electronics don’t last long in the pool so that removes several distractions. And the repetition of your hands entering the water and the kick of your feet lulls you into an almost hypnotic state of inner reflection - or centers your thoughts on just trying not to drown.
Perhaps, the biggest difficulty is if I come up with a brilliant idea - and I like to think most of my ideas are gold - is that I tend to forget it soon after I get out of the water because a pen and paper at the edge of the pool doesn’t stay dry for long, so maybe they aren’t as golden as I think.
But I usually leave the lap session with at least one idea that I think is viable as a topic, an opening line for the column and an outline for how the written piece will flow. As for the ending, that is arguably the hardest part because there is usually so much more to say or you don’t know how to tie back to the beginning.
But if I get up early when the house is quiet, find a place where the wi-fi won’t reach me and shut off my phone, I can focus on my thoughts, flesh out the idea and provide polish to the column.
Of course that assumes it hasn’t been snowing because while others may find the snow calming and soothing, for me it is more of a distraction, beckoning for me to get outside. Ultimately, everyone needs to determine where they find their focus, where they can find their calmness and where they can find their peacefulness.
