A lot of my world is PTA meetings, hanging out with moms, and volunteering in the local schools. This means that a high percentage of my social media circle is made up of parents, from this current context and from the places where we have lived before. Lately there have been a ton of posts about snow days. A recurring theme is for people to complain about a school delay or closure because their neighborhood or yard isn’t that snowy or icy. Recently I saw a different take on that theme. A person made the statement that the district obviously cancelled school because of conditions in other neighborhoods. That person’s friends then chimed in with updates about their neighborhoods, and between the newly fallen snow and the persistent ice it’s clear that for the safety of all students the district made the right decision.
This week Meryl Streep made an impassioned speech about empathy that has resonated deeply with lots of folks. Empathy is something we long to receive and yet when we’re annoyed about a schedule change due to snow we look out our window and make an assumption that the rest of the world looks just like our front yard. If we really want to embody our values we can start on the ordinary days. I love the view out my window and I must remember not everyone shares it. That is my first step in finding empathy and expressing love for others this year, the simple reminder that my experience isn’t universal.
-Eilidh
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