Love Note #76: Spring Equinox
A Rebellion of Beauty & Resilience
Hello Beloved,
This week, the Spring Equinox arrives…and I almost missed it!
Most years as spring approaches, I notice the subtle changes—the moment the scent in the air shifts.
Watching the trees rouse awake—the furry moss-colored green bud that gives way to its swollen pink-hued blossoms swaying lightly in the breeze—is one of my favorite times of year.
But one day, while driving recently, I looked up and noticed the pink magnolias were already in full bloom, some beginning to fall already.
I missed it. How did that happen?!
I suppose this spring feels different. I’ve associated the season with a softer time, a defrosting from the barrenness of the winter. But these last months have felt wrought with uncertainty, harshness, and instability. There has been an intensity in my personal life that has felt magnified by the world around me.
In the frequency of the moment, unaware there's been an urge to elongate the slumber of winter, to remain in-actionable, to maintain, awaiting a brighter day.
Yet nature, unaffected and on its own eternal cycle, moves in with the promise of warmer weather.
With birdsong, Life awakens from its slumber all around,
The heavy blanket of winter recedes,
Rousing us, whether we want it or not, from the fallow internal season.
“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep.
-Rumi
Mystic Howard Thurman describes the heaviness this way:
"But little by little, there crept into my life the dust and grit of the journey. Details, lower-level demands, all kinds of cross currents—nothing momentous, nothing overwhelming, nothing flagrant—just wear and tear."
This winter season I've felt its 'wear and tear.' How was the season for you?
And I may have continued on, had it not been for that day when, as if being jarred awake from a deep slumber, the magnolia blossoms in their florescence called out. That blossom giving ‘no fucks’ about what we humans are up to - She opens fully to life, again this year, just like last year.
Spring this year feels like a rebellion, a revolution in the face of things in our personal lives and our collective experience.
Her revolution is one of beauty, harmony, and the insistent natural order of things. Spring wasn’t doubting whether to “do it” or not. To perhaps only show up in half measure, discerning who deserves the grace of warmth or the resource of joy.
Nature puts things in perspective—reminding us, reminding me—that Life will have its way.
The Spring Equinox is a day where there is a balance of light and dark. An opportunity to step into the frequency of the season and choose.
You can choose to let the season arouse you into possibility, embracing wakefulness through the intoxication of lethargy, apathy, and avoidance. Each of us must. Remembering that new beginnings happen in big and small ways. I invite you to think about where can you highlight renewal in your life?
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Let go: Delete some emails, clean out your refrigerator or closet. Notice which connections in your life increase or decrease your energy.
Let your mind rest: Do a social media detox for a weekend (I did this recently and it was glorious!)
Clear away stale energy: Open your windows (yes, even for a moment if it's still cold!) and clean your floors. You can add a little rosemary essential oil to the water for a clarifying boost.
Clean and clear your space: Organize and clean your workspace or bathroom cabinet.
Care for your body: Start a 5-minute stretching routine before bed.
Breathe in some fresh air: Take a walk or open your windows (yes, even if it's a little cold still).
Enjoy some connection: Call someone you haven't seen in a while (that enhances your energy!) and catch up.
Whatever you do, I invite you to notice the shift in the season and see what calls to you.
May your week be aroused by Spring’s arrival and renewed with possibility.
As always…
