The Springtime Work of Transformation

I asked friends what signs of spring they were noticing. They mentioned birdsong and blossoms. They didn’t mention the bare branches of trees against the bleak grey sky, or the frost we had that morning. This week at my house was wind and rain and mud, the streets and grass in my neighborhood littered with branches swept out of the trees by the rough winds. Then when the sun finally appeared, the first yellow blooms of daffodils and forsythia answered. Spring is always a time of transition. It is unpredictable and quixotic. It can be parkas in the morning and shirtsleeves in the afternoon.

One grey spring morning the rain pouring down the windows mirrored the grief in my own heart and the tears rolling down my own cheeks, as the turn of season reminded me of past losses. I try to let grief do it’s cleansing work when it comes, to let the tears wash through whatever is ready to be remembered or released. Later, on a walk, I had a sense of feeling cleansed, lighter, for having allowed that grief to move through me. I was ready to receive the sunshine, the birdsong, the green shoots of new life. The old truism popped into my head “April showers bring May flowers.”

As spring unfolds around you I encourage you to notice and honor it all- the rain and the mud, rough winds and gentle breezes, and of course the buds and leaves appearing on trees and bushes, and the beautiful progression of flowers so precious and ephemeral. Allow yourself to weep with the showers when that is what your spirit needs, and allow the fresh pops of color in the landscape, the antics of birds and squirrels to nourish your spirit in those moments when the clouds part and there is room for delight. Welcome spring as it moves through your heart doing the hard work of transformation.