Tag Archives: spring

We Begin Again

And spring has arrived in North America after our long stormy winter. Where I’m from it’s been heaps of snow, long power outages, broken trees, financial stresses.

But daffodils have emerged. Forsythia are just starting to spark. We had a whole 2 days of ceasefire. There’s a Ken Burns documentary about Henry David Thoreau that evokes a spirit of possibility and personal journey airing on PBS. So.

We begin again. Reintend. Plant seeds. Create space, find forgiveness, make grace. Forgive what didn’t quite come to be. Renew belief, renew resolve. Because a new season is arriving all full of longer days and possibility.

To that end, I planted seeds that were meant to be planted last year… or even in 2024. I’ll see if they sprout.

Some people are getting married. Some people are starting businesses. Some people are finding a spiritual space in their minds and hearts, or pivoting toward spending their days with an eye toward developing their own vision.

Still, as if winter hasn’t passed, might not pass, I keep hearing so much about what’s wrong right now. It’s true, there’s a lot that isn’t going right. But when wasn’t that true? There’s always something that is stealing the moment’s joy, or could do. You don’t have to dig far to read or hear stories that remind us of how much we have to be grateful for.

We can claim joy back if we have the courage to. Earned or unearned, we can always just take it back to ourselves. And as if to remind us, spring has returned. Again!

I once knew a person who was bound early in his life for Spain. I think just for a while. I asked him about his intention for his trip – was I asking about his career? I hadn’t meant to. His answer: ‘Same as everyone. I want to be fabulous.’

Over the years I’ve thought about his answer, its rightness, and how we say no to ourselves.

But spring has come. There’s a new moon in Aries this week. Maybe we should all say yes. Maybe we should all make a little space for being fabulous, in our own rights, just as we are. No change required.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Equinox Unfolding

Miniature Daffodils emerging - March

A friend of mine used to say “spring always comes.” That sentence is loaded with meaning, of course, and the comfort that comes with that simple statement goes deep and far.

Happily Roger was proven right again this year and spring dawns in the northeast as usual — as usual…

snowbells

Just that phrase. Since 2020 nothing has felt “usual” – but spring has come, *as usual*, thank the gods. Snowdrops have come and gone, crocus and daffodils are up, tree buds are visible and I’m thinking about summer porch furniture. As usual.

Some other usual things … the mailboxes of our hometown after a winter of (not much) snow plowing:

Mailbox plowed to the ground. The rest of the post is still buried.

Year after year we marvel at the ingenuity of people’s solutions to this perennial problem. People are very creative!

broken duck-taped mailbox
Hellebore

Yes, the comfort of the usual, maybe not entirely predictable things. Welcome, spring.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Imbolg Wishes, 2014

Candle Garden

Imbolg, a fire festival marking the first stirrings of spring, is a long tradition in our family.  Every year we plant a candle garden filled with the desires we hold closest to our hearts, and share (if we want to) what we planted with each other.  These things we intend to cultivate during the coming growing season, while the days grow and stretch longer toward the summer solstice, the sun finally reaching its  longest stay in the night sky.

For myself, in a new house, my children growing and beautiful, there is the obvious desire to experience and express love.   And in 2014 I have a special wish for tranquility.  Tristan and Inga both chose to focus on endeavors they’re currently engaged in, growing personal improvement and mastery in their respective areas.  Perhaps at this time next year we’ll be able to reflect on what we decided to plant and feel satisfied with what we grew.

For now, though

time is a river, and every year we flow into new territories, finding ourselves changed and renewed, grown and altered by the ones we’ve left behind …

May the coming growing season bring a journey filled with love, happiness, and all good things for every one of us.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized