I’M NO LONGER SHRINKING TO FIT SMALL SPACES

Let me take you back to December 2020.

The education sector was exhausted. Nine months of online teaching had reshaped our days, our energy, and our sense of normalcy. On December 31st, Belgium organized a symbolic moment at exactly 20:20. People stepped outside with pots, pans, hands — anything that could make noise — to applaud the “heroes” in care and education. A loud, clattering transition from 2020 to 2021.

It was chaotic, emotional, and strangely unifying.

Now fast‑forward to January 2026.

The year is only a few days old when nature surprises us again. This time it’s not a virus, but snow — thick, beautiful, disruptive snow. No lockdowns. No public health crisis. Just a simple but familiar question for school leaders:

Do we open the schools, or do we move online again?

Some leaders facilitated with grace. Some strategized.Some communicated clearly.
Some were still on ski holidays.And some simply chose business as usual.

Students reacted in their own way:
“Free at last. I can do what I want, whenever I want, as long as I’m ‘present’ online.”
Horizontal learning became the new favourite posture.

And me?

As an educational professional, it felt like being called back into a familiar battlefield.
My gear? Check. My mindset? E‑teaching muscle memory I hoped I’d never need again? Stille here

But this time, something shifted. The snow brought coziness.The new year brought creativity.
The temporary disruption brought freedom.
I could choose my workspace — inside, outside, wrapped in a blanket, on my balcony, watching the world turn white.

And in that moment, I relearned a lesson I had forgotten:

Stop shrinking to fit places, systems, and mindsets you have outgrown.

Stop adjusting yourself to outdated expectations.
Stop squeezing yourself into roles that no longer reflect who you are.
Stop dimming your creativity to match environments that no longer nourish you.

We evolve. Our work evolves. Our way of showing up evolves.

And sometimes it takes snow — or crisis — to remind us of that.

How did you experience your own “back to the trenches” moments?

Whether you work in education, healthcare, business, or any other sector, I’d love to hear how you navigated those sudden shifts and what they taught you about yourself.