Over the past few weeks, in between these final blasts of winter, we’ve
enjoyed some beautiful spring weather.
While walking through the park one day, I could feel the thaw taking
place both within and without. My body
felt warm, but there was a residual tingle of frostiness felt on my skin. Small, leftover patches of snow were melting
and merging with the soil, offering it much needed moisture to soften and
prepare for the grass and flowers to grow.
These weeks of transition from winter into spring have many ups and
downs. The wind becomes bitter and harsh
while the sun grows stronger along with our yearning to spend more time
outside. The weather changes drastically
from day to day and even hour to hour as Mother Nature begins her annual
birthing process.
It takes tremendous energy and momentum for new growth to take place,
and at the same time it takes tremendous surrender. As the seed pushes its way to sprout and
break through the soil, the snow is simultaneously surrendering its frozen
form, helping to nourish the earth and support the new plant growth. In observing this wild time of transition in
nature, we too are invited to surrender our frozen ideas and visions on how
life should be and embrace what we can’t control as a pathway to new growth in
our lives. Showing up for our self-care
activities and practices offers us the space needed to soothe the ego from its
fear, worry and anguish over the unpredictable chaos of life, and to cultivate
the fertile muddy soil needed for sure and steady growth. If we allow the ego’s frozen hold over us,
which perpetuates our suffering, to gently melt like the snow into the earth,
we then empower the part of us that can observe from a place of love and allow
for new experiences to blossom in our lives.
While pain and chaos are a part of the human journey, if we allow it to
meld with our overall experience of life, it then transforms into the colorful
beauty that blossoms as the healing from those experiences takes place.
Planting our seeds of intention and planning for what we desire are
important aspects to manifesting a meaningful and joyful life, as well as co-creating
the world we want to see for ourselves and others. However, when we allow the mind to let go of its
preconceived notions on how life “should” be or how others “should” be, we
allow the things we can’t control to transform into the nourishment that
supports us in living in alignment with our most authentic and true nature. In turn, just as the soil softens in response
to the snow melting, creating the mud needed to support new life, when we
release the ego’s grip over us, the world around us begins to soften. How we experience the journey of life becomes
a beautiful gift, even during our moments of doubt and confusion. We dissolve the labels of who we are or who
we think we should be, recognizing that the light and the shadow aspects of
ourselves are one, working in tandem to support us. In turn our whole, healed and most authentic
nature can thrive and express itself in beautiful ways within the confines of
our human journey.
