I am ready for the renewing energy of spring to chase away this extraordinarily long winter’s night we’ve been slogging through for more than 365 days.
Renewal
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
― Anne Bradstreet
This quote is really resonating with me right now. Spring is traditionally a time of new life and new beginnings, and this year it feels like spring is also bringing new hope for an end to this pandemic. But even with a light at the end of the tunnel, I, like many of you I suspect, am emotionally exhausted.
I am ready to put the adversity of the past year behind us, take a deep breath, and step into the future. But after a year of uncertainty, sadness, and general unease, it’s hard to know how to take that first step because there is still a mantle of disquiet weighing me down.
I cry for those who have lost loved ones. I ache for those who are jobless. I feel sorrow for those who have lost their homes. I feel despair for those who are marginalized. I feel frustration that I can’t do more to help those who are living in unsafe homes.
But I also feel gratitude for the good I’ve seen in the world. People helping strangers in need. Volunteers figuring out how to help while keeping their distance. Nonprofits pivoting on the fly to do more for those in need.
Saturday is the vernal equinox – the first day of spring and a time when day and night will be equal. Balanced. Each day after, the days will get a little longer, the nights a bit shorter, until the autumnal equinox, when the cycle reverses.
Cycles. Balance. This is comforting, knowing spring will always follow winter, and the earth always finds its balance. And though it may take a while, we will find our balance as well.
I am ready for the renewing energy of spring to chase away this extraordinarily long winter’s night we’ve been slogging through for more than 365 days.
I plan to let spring renew my spirit and help me find my balance. I will trust that the winter is truly over and we will all experience the joy and possibilities of a bright spring.
And I believe we can wash away the bitter taste of adversity with a fountain of prosperity that will heal and make us whole again.
May you all find your own balance and be blessed by the renewing energy of spring.
Comments