Dr. Lee Snyder, president emeritus of Bluffton University, returned to campus April 5 to share her strategy for maintaining wholeness in an age of high stress and low downtime.
Her lecture concluded the annual women’s conference hosted by the Bluffton University Women’s Council. This year’s theme was “Women Enriching Women: Celebrating the Seasons of Life.”
For Snyder, Bluffton’s president from 1996-2006, living a fulfilling life—particularly as a Christian—requires that individuals set aside time to cultivate virtues such as mindfulness and spiritual well-being.
She accomplishes this in retirement through regular journaling, gaining inspiration from her favorite authors, including Alice Munro, William Stafford and Flannery O’Connor. By setting aside time to reflect on our lives, we “strengthen our connection with the sacred,” she said.
And strengthening this connection—to God—helps us find our place in an ever-changing world, she said. It was only after retiring and slowing down her pace that she fully realized she can’t do everything, no matter how busy she makes herself. “We’re not in control. Many things we cannot fix,” she said.
But sometimes an inability to fix what we believe to be broken is actually a time to embrace change and seek renewal, she told the audience.
It is important to notice things, she said. She recalled a true story in which a violinist played for tips at a Washington, D.C., subway station. Most people, busy with their days, passed by the musician without stopping to listen.
“When he finished playing, no one noticed, no one applauded,” she recalled. The musician turned out to be Joshua Bell, a world-renowned violinist who had just sold out a theater in Boston, with tickets averaging $100 each.
If we move through the world too fast, she said, we won’t notice the significance of what’s around us. “Pay attention. Look around,” she urged the audience.
In practicing slowness, we should also learn to appreciate the beauty around us, “whether that’s a sunrise or an unexpected conversation,” she said. For example, she added, a woodpecker outside the house that morning reminded her of the beauty in the world and in God’s creation.
Snyder also believes that the ability to meet new people and to reach out to someone we wouldn’t expect to is a gift from God. “It’s through other people that God chooses to reach out to us,” she said.
And noticing when we are thankful for something and showing gratitude for it is critical to cultivating well-being in ourselves and others, she asserted. She cited Luke 17:16, in which Jesus heals a group of lepers, and only one of them throws himself at Jesus’ feet in gratitude.
To practice showing gratitude, Snyder suggests writing to someone for whom you are grateful. “Tell them what they mean to you,” she told the audience. But intentionality is key, she stressed. If we do not notice and share our gratefulness, she said, we risk slipping into the stresses of our daily lives and letting our appreciation—of God, people, nature or otherwise—fall to the wayside.
Aside from reading and journaling, she has been cultivating well-being through the faith community, where she hopes to touch others as well as learn from them. “These are not one-way streets,” she said of relationships. “We learn from one another. Blessings go both ways.”
The key to receiving these blessings is to make an active effort to notice and appreciate ourselves and others, she concluded. “To fully receive God’s bounty requires turning up our cups. It’s a symbol that we’re ready to be filled.”
