Springtime feels magical. Wet earth, an awakening. Blustery winds make quick work of drying up soccer fields, knee-high in winters debris. Glorious sunshine filters through rough branches just beginning to bud. An explosion of blossoms permeates the town with the fragrance of new love and new life and call us to leave the confines of our winter slumber to trust and venture out into the open once more.
It is a season of hope. Neighbors come out of hiding and stop to chat as they clear the debris of winters storms, willing their yards to green up faster. Impatient for the last vestiges of winter to vanish so that the fun can begin. Rains come heavy and wash away dirt and salt. Kids pull out their bikes hopefully. We open windows, wash our quilts, shake off the heaviness and welcome the new. After the intense season of slumber has passed, I too began to awaken. I woke up changed and not only in lovely ways. I bore the scars of one who fought for life and wholeness, but I was hardier too. I learned in winter the power of surrender, self-acceptance, and scanning for beauty like my life depended upon it.
Spring has arrived and with it a new breath of air, presence and hope. Spring is also a season of mud. Plenty of mud. It is a season of exhale. Of getting honest after the dark and reflection of winter about what we need to release and cut so that we can live freer. Lighter. This is an important season of both transition and messy work. It is a season of hard choices and joyful possibility but if we’re not living awake we’ll try to run from the discomfort of it. We must learn to sit in the muck and allow ourselves to feel, tell the truth and just be here in this season. To practice undistracted awareness. To be still instead of running or numbing or rushing ahead to get to the good stuff.
Spring is a season of action, it begs for us to move, to make strides and tidy up the debris of of cold harsh months, sleeping minds and dark nights. Spring asks us to carefully, patiently, tentatively step forward and embrace the light and allow healing and creativity to blossom slowly and with purpose just as the trees, the birds and the world prepare for their finest hour. They have slept to fuel the energy of spring and we too have arrived on the winds of change, ready to flower for the full awakening.
Peace and Love, Jim
