I am embarking on my second snow day. I work at a college and campus has been closed for two days so far. Because of this, I was fortunate enough to have four days in a row of time off including the weekend. This may not sound like much to some, but it has been to me. I don’t often take this much time off in a row except to visit extended family, which is fun and worth the time and travel, but not relaxing to me. What I’m learning from this time off is that I need to prioritize time for myself doing nothing or whatever else I want to do - long stretches of it.
I know I’m fortunate in that I accrue vacation and have the means to use it. Not everyone has the type of job that allows them to earn much vacation, has snow days, or is flexible enough that they can schedule in vacation very easily. Mine does, but I have spent the last two or three years avoiding taking much vacation. I was in the habit, from my own days in college, of just working hard. That isn’t particularly sustainable when your work doesn’t build in extensive breaks like college students get. Breaks at my institution are one of the times I have particularly busy days since part of my duties involves reviewing poor grades for changes in academic standing (thankfully we have a new automated process for this as of last quarter). This spring break we’ll be training student staff if all goes according to plan.
So, having this time off has been a boon. I started it by cleaning the kitchen and listening to the epilogue to By the Book’s podcast episode about that Pantsdrunk book by Miska Rantanen (Pantsdrunk: Kalsarikanni: The Finnish Path to Relaxation) . Side note - I love Jolenta and Kristen’s adventuring through self-help books and encourage you to follow their podcast. In general, the gist of practicing pantsdrunk (a distant cousin to the practice of hygge), requires that you allow yourself to be comfortable and do nothing much as a form of relaxation, according to my recollection of the podcast’s main episode and the epilogue. More specifically, “nothing much” often looks like zoning out binge-watching TV and drinking mildly while occasionally messaging people on your phone. You’re also welcome to drink non-alcoholic beverages while engaging in pantsdrunk and the goal is definitely not to get wasted.
I don’t know how successfully I engaged in a pure form of pantsdrunk, but I certainly have lived in the spirit of it while snowed in. My relaxation over these four days has included the following:
making final revisions to a certain writing project
sending out said writing project for query to an agent (o.o)
making pumpkin pie to get that butternut squash off our counter and past expired evaporated milk out of the cupboard before I should definitely chuck it (my first pie ever!)
stretching daily and going for one (1) walk outside after nearly three days of being inside
practicing for choir twice (whoa)
groceries and laundry of course
watching portions of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies and feeling completely unobligated to finish them
unearthing the chair that accumulates books, mail, and coats
caulking part of the bathtub better (the bathtub is a long story of replacement and repair whose moral is something about settling for continued imperfection)
reading City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer
watching Sherlock for hours
lunching on pumpkin pie and Incline’s blood orange cider (only one) around 2 PM each day
Watching the mini series Storm of the Century because why not?
Some people would get stir crazy after being cooped up inside for four days, but not me. What would you do with four days snowed in? I’d love to know if you think you could make it, or any other binge-worthy shows or books you’d dive into.