Poems and Pictures to Celebrate the Start of Spring
“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Since yesterday was the Spring Equinox where I am in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought I'd share a little celebration of Spring today. I know that many people in the world have been in the thick of snowstorms on the East Coast of the Americas or in torrential rain in the Pacific and some are in the midst of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. It always amazes me to think of our one beautiful planet and its cycles and seasons and weather patterns. If you happen to be someplace on our planet that is experiencing Spring or if you are feeling the energies of Spring in your life, let's celebrate it!
What longs to be birthed, to sprout up from the dark soils of winter and burst into bloom? What has been gestating in the quiet soils of your soul? Nature can be such a powerful guide and metaphor for our lives.
I know many people that have been going through a hard time recently, feeling that they've cracked and come undone, facing shadow wounds and illnesses, and feeling overwhelmed with the state of the world. I know I have been. And yet, what if all of those are actually signs of transformation, of new life emerging, of facing the disowned shadow parts in order to integrate it all into greater wholeness, so that a new you may emerge? I am often reminded of the great words of Cynthia Occelli:
"For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."
~ Cynthia Occelli
On my Wonder Walks recently, I have been reminded of the resilience of nature. The fact that so many plants and animals hibernate through cold harsh winters, when it appears as if everything has died, and then reemerge anew in the light of Spring, is truly a testament to nature's resilience. I've been watching tiny little shoots slowly start to poke their heads out of the ground and crocus bulbs opening to send tiny sprouts up to the sky. The frost dusts them on some early mornings, glistening like sugar frosted petals, and yet it soon melts into twinkling dew drops, and the plants continue upward.
Those moments of transition are so tender. Where I am in the Rocky Mountains, it doesn't feel like full-on Spring yet, as the trees haven't started blossoming and we had a light snowfall the other night. However, subtle signs of life re-emerging are starting to pop up everywhere. It is that sweet time of transition in between the seasons. So often in life we we are so eager to get where we want to go, whether it's a destination or to achieve something, that we don't notice the sweetness of the moments on the journey.
I invite you to take a moment to pause in nature, to tune in to the aliveness pulsing all around you. Breathe it in deeply. What are the smells, the sights, and the temperature? Are birds singing? What shade is the sky? I was visited by the first ladybug of the season yesterday! What life is around you? Allow yourself a moment to take it all in. Such beauty to behold.
I hope you enjoy these photos that I took with my Easy-Macro Lens on my phone, and I invite you to pause and enjoy whatever season you are currently experiencing.
'Soon' by Richard Wehrman, Being Here: Poetic Inquiries
Bud of life,
Let go of what you might become-
pictures in your mind
Of other flowers blooming.
Feel your own sap,
the green electric
tingle of cells climbing your stem,
building around you
yellow and gold translucence.
Let yourself be pushed
By your own Self-
up, out and free
into Spring’s cold blue air-
warmed by the
brilliant light everywhere.
Then let them in,
those clear-winged
buzzing beings,
to wander in your golden
soul-dust-
offer it freely to
their gathering arms-
let them mix
your essence with
the sweetness of a
thousand flowers,
become as you
were meant to be-
honey of love,
Sweet taste of joy."
"If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable"
~ Rainier Maria Rilke
