Spring is a happiness so beautiful, so unique, so unexpected, that I don't know what to do with my heart.
-Emily Dickinson
Spring is here. I can smell it, taste it, hear it and feel it in my soul.
As the withered and quiet world around me comes back to life after a long slumber, so it is as my spirit awakens. I am thrilled to very edges of my soul by Pachamama as she bursts with aliveness - flowers in spring bloom, ferns unfurling in spirals, birdsongs return, the sun warms and my barefeet become the earth as they sink into the moist soft soil. My birth day is in Spring and every Spring I feel like I have been born anew.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, Winter and Spring tend to waltz around each other.
This time of year I never know who will be leading the weather dance on any particular day - should I bring an umbrella and rain jacket today or sport sandals and sunglasses? Then one day, almost imperceptibly, Spring arrives at the heels of Winter with Summer pushing in from behind, poking her head out just enough to encourage the sleeping trees and dormant bulbs to stir, setting in motion the miracle of life.
Although she never rushes into things, the magic by which this mysterious and enchanting season deposes her beauty around us always lures me into sheer amazement.
When did the flowering fruit trees suddenly turn pink and the tiny green sprouts pushing through the hardened winter earth become bright yellow blooming daffodils? Birds reappear with their morning melodies when yesterday and in the long months before there was only silence.
My body and senses relish in the intoxicating warmth of the sun's rays as they penetrate my deprived translucent winter skin. I'm drunk with the sun's kiss, literally stoned to the soul.
I could fall into eternal bliss right here. And… Dirt. I need to get my hands and feet into the dirt! At night I slumber with the aroma of Spring lulling me into a contented sleep.
Spring reminds me to slow down and coast in neutral while enjoying her wanton displays of beauty and to care-take and tend to the seeds within myself that I planted during the long winter.
She puts a spring in my step, gives me hope and inspires me.
A Personal Share
Three Springs ago I was walking my very old ancient dog who could barely walk and was mostly blind and deaf. I was a little grumpy. He was walking slow and I was in a hurry. He suddenly stopped and lurched over to a patch of grass. I was immediately annoyed and frustrated.
I went to gently nudge him back onto the sidewalk when I noticed he was intently sniffing a patch of wild purple and yellow pansies in the grass. As I watched him, I was filled with an intense love. A love for him and for the beauty of life that had unexpectedly wrapped itself around my heart. It was in this moment that I fully understood the phrase - "Stop and smell the flowers".
Of course, his sense of smell was the only thing that was not affected by his age and as he was relishing in the smell of spring, I began to be utterly amazed at the beauty of these wild pansies who were coloring the world around me. We rested like this for many minutes while he sniffed and sniffed. When we got home I shared with him how thankful I was for reminding me to fall with wild abandon into beauty around me, to slow down and smell the flowers. He passed on peacefully a few weeks later.
Now, every spring when I see a flower unfurling or a patch of green sprouts growing through the trodden mulchy soil of winter, I am taken back to that moment where I received the gift of Spring from my beloved friend and dog.
Consider the seeds you planted over the long winter and how you will tend to them this Spring. What is needed to grow your beautiful seedlings?
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