spring IS coming ...

"you can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." - Pablo Neruda

it isn't quite spring yet. there is still snow and ice on the ground. it's -13 degrees today. but it is coming. 

and under the earth, plants lie dormant. but they will grow again. 

flowers can teach us a great deal about ourselves. 

spring can be a time of renewal for ourselves, both mentally and physically (it is easier to go for a walk in the spring than it is in the winter on the slippery freezing cold streets).

under the ground right now, the flowers are waiting. and soon they will work their way through the hard earth, reaching for the warmth and light of the sun. no matter how cold and hard the winter was, they will grow and bloom. 

the same can be said for us. this has been a long and cold, harsh winter. more harsh than we have had in awhile. and the harshness and coldness have made it feel like a much longer winter than usual. 

i know that i feel like a dormant bulb under the cold hard earth. waiting for the temperature to warm up, for the sun to be stronger, for my limbs to stretch through, out of this cold dormancy and be revitalized. 

i want to be renewed. 

according to deborah day: "renewal requires opening yourself up to new ways of thinking and feeling." i want to be open to newness. to learning about myself, about others, and about the world. 

renewal ... 

merriam webster defines renewal as making something new, fresh, or strong again. to make a promise again. to begin again with more force or enthusiasm. 

notice that each definition includes the word "again" as in, returning to what you once were or once did. we were born new, fresh, strong, forceful, and enthusiastic. and we can reclaim those attributes. 

"for within your flesh, deep within the centre of your being, is the undaunted, waiting, longing, all-knowing. is the ready, able, perfect. within you, waiting its turn to emerge, piece by piece, with the dawn of every former test of trial and blackness, is the next unfolding, the great unfurling of wings, the reforged backbone of a true child of light." - jennifer delucy

we are always already strong, vibrant, magical, and enough. and now is the time to find those things inside ourselves. to push through this harsh winter and put the cold, ice, and snow ... the frozen, behind us. 

to let ourselves bloom, and start fresh in the spring. 

i have always thought that spring should be the start of the new year. because it is when everything that has been dormant comes back to life. 

including me. 

including you. 

may you find renewal and your best self, and bloom like the flowers. 


be kind to yourself, 

(this time, all the photos are mine)
xoxo

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