Gazing in the Mirror

January 11 - The Turn Towards Spring

Life stands before me
like an eternal spring with
new and brilliant clothes.
~ Carl Friedrich Gauss

As water flows in and around,
So we are immersed in an
everlasting Spirit which flows
around, in and through us.
To be immersed in water
symbolizes our recognition that
we are surrounded by pure Spirit.
~ Ernest Holmes

I sense the turn towards Spring with certainty. I notice the days remaining light longer. The snow is melting, the clouds have left us for now and the sky is blue so that my eyes light up equally in delight. Spring can never come quickly enough for a heart tired of Winter, even one that acknowledges the value and beneficial aspects of the cold dark. Still, I had to hike down to the creek to celebrate this morning. I am so ready for it and a bird was chirping cheerily to share its own joy with me. The creek was cleansing the land by sending the excess moisture down through the watershed. It is a glorious day, no exaggeration.

Of course Winter will not let go of us entirely, not completely, not yet. There may still be storms to pass through, dump snow on us and drop our temperatures back into bundling up and heating weather. And that is okay. For today it is enough to truly sense the inevitability of Spring and be strengthened to cope for a while longer, with lots of patience, whenever Winter makes another appearance this year. Sometimes we even get a bit of Winter as late as April in Missouri where I live. Knowing that the changing of the seasons is constant helps when the season seems too long and too dreary. It helps me knowing that those changes may be bumpy with some of one and some of the other doing a tumbling dance with one another.

I was wondering why it is that Spring has the psychological effects that it does upon us. So much so that even a hint of it can seriously lighten our step quite quickly. Nature definitely conspires with biology to spring forth new life. Spring has an ability to remind us that hope is not misplaced as an aspect of our ability to cope through hardship. We have mastered the need to survive and we can see the end of Winter approaching. While hope is ever available in any season, somehow Spring amplifies it as a useful tool by proving it's worth to us. Spring affirms what we knew when there was no sign that it would return. I can imagine that ancient people needed a lot of faith in the cycles of nature to get through the hardships of Winter. The approach of Spring confirmed for them that they would survive into yet another Summer.

I think the increasing light from our Sun that becomes evident in Spring is a physiological reason that we respond quickly with a buoyant and energized self when we are able to recognize Spring peeking at us through the still bare branches of the forest's winter sleep. Over the next few months, the hours of daylight will increase to the point that we will have approx 3 more hours per day (roughly 20% more) when the Spring equinox arrives, than we did at the Winter Solstice. There are even biological effects in our bodies related to the neurotransmitter Serotonin. Short days are both a blessing and a challenge during the Winter months. My family lives by daylight on our farm quite a bit, so the days seem to race by in wintertime. Thankfully, I personally don't ever experience the season as being interminable.

Experience has taught us over our lifetimes that we can be optimistic that Spring will return at a predictable time each year. We begin to plan for our vegetable gardens and other Spring plantings in Winter. We look forward to spending time out in nature again. We can get certain kinds of more vigorous exercise when we are able to go out of doors. I have seen how wild my young sons can get when they are not able to release enough of their natural energy because extreme cold is keeping them mostly indoors. It is easy for me to enjoy Spring more than Summer as the extreme heat and humidity here make me sweat and the bugs become intolerable. I do enjoy the noises that come with warmer weather like that made by the bird chirping happily this morning.

Over the next few months my heart will continue to watch for increasing signs that Spring's true arrival has come – a greening of the grasses, a swelling of the leaf buds on trees, the first spray of Daffodils ready and willing to take a chance that Winter isn't hiding nearby to freeze them. I guess these first hints of Spring such as I have been sensing today are what put me into a state of anticipation and I actively await the complete arrival of Spring. Spring also encourages me to want to eat a healthier diet and I spend more time out of doors soaking up the warming sunshine. Even if not truly noticeable my levels of exercise increase with the oncoming Spring. The hope of Spring is like the tonics of old, strengthening and revitalizing.

~ perspective

I am happy that there is nothing on
this Earth that could ever keep Spring
from arriving – I count on that.
I love the smell of dirt in Springtime
because it is so full of Life.
I turn my face up towards the warm
sunlight and know that rain will also
come in the Spring and yet that it
is always followed by more sunlight.
Maybe it is the simple contrast with
Winter that makes the Spring seem
so utterly delightful.
My soul sings in joy !! along with
the wings of newly hatched butterflies,
the songs of birds mating, and the
blossoming of Spring's flowers.

#acceptance #anticipation #biology #change #cycles #exercise #health #hope #light #nature