Sunday, March 20, 2016

Spring, Glorious Spring!

Isn’t it marvelous?!! Daylight remains long after I leave work in the evening and, on the other side of a night that shrinks more with each passing day, the cheerful twittering of birds greets me in the morning.

The Spring Equinox is upon us. Only a few hours ago, at precisely 10:30 p.m. MDT, Saturday, the sun was directly in line with the Earth’s equator, its rays gracing us head~on. Day and night were roughly the same length, hence the term “equinox”, meaning equal night. This event, however, lasted but a moment.

The Earth’s northern hemisphere has already begun its tilt toward the sun. Our days will lengthen even more, buds will unfurl into leaf or flower, and a world closed in on itself is ready now to burst forth in activity and new growth.

Spring, glorious spring, has arrived at last. As Robin Williams put it, “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ ” 

And yet, it is so much more than that, or can be. Cultures throughout the world have celebrated this time for its deeper significance.

We are intricately tied to this planet, with bodies fashioned of her dust and lives supported by her bounty. That which affects the Earth affects us. And the riotous upsurge of vitality we now see in every living thing around us can have a corollary in our own lives. We, too, can burst forth in new growth, syncing ourselves with this larger rhythm.

As the Sun hovers above the equator, today is an ideal time to pause and consider our own path. Where are we on our life’s trajectory, in our own orbit around our sustaining source? What tender shoots are wanting to burst forth from the soil of our lives? To what are we now being called?

New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside, in part, because the dead of winter is a lousy time for starting new projects. With our sap pulled down into our roots, we are deprived of oomph. We need rest.

But spring is another matter altogether! Abolitionist and former slave Harriet Ann Jacobs wrote, “…when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.”

Yes, this is the season for new beginnings. We can skillfully use this revivify time to coax the crocuses of our inner garden to life. Whether it’s a project itchin’ to take form or a quality of being wanting to express itself through us, now is the time. The energy of spring will be our helpmeet.

The poet Rilke says of the season, “The Earth is like a child who knows poems.” Let us be as children ourselves, fresh and excited by life.  And may our poems, fashioned from the grittiness of our own lives, sing out from the depths of our souls…a joyous praise of all that is wondrous and good.

Love!

Leia Marie