How our souls yearn for spring, for the sweetness of it, the rebirth of green and the feeling that no matter how hard the winter was, we endured it. We are finally rewarded with the chance to start afresh…
Our dreams are renewed in spring; we feel like anything is possible. The vitality of life runs through our veins again, just as the sap flows in the trees.
My heart drifts back to sweet memories of spring, accompanying my dad to the sugar bush, snow still on the ground, but the sun promising the coming warmth of summer. And hauling a big tin of maple syrup home, feeling the abundance that the Earth had provided. Even as a kid I appreciated it, the sweetness of this simple annual ritual with my father.
Our backyard boasted both a cherry and an apple tree. One would flower pink, the other white. I loved walking way down to the end of the yard, simply to admire the beautiful blossoms and breathe in their intoxicating, delicate scent.
Much later in adulthood, I discovered travel stories of Japan, and now my soul yearns to visit a place where the cherry blossom is revered and celebrated. Some day I will, paying homage to girlhood memories, springtime, my father, and the beauty of life, which ideally we should celebrate every day.
But oh, how it feels easier to celebrate that beauty in springtime!
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” ~ Albert Camus
Trill
As birds can transcend the ground and fly towards the heavens, they have been revered in various cultures (particularly indigenous) as messengers between deity and man. What a lovely and comforting thought, that feathered spirits with wings of angels communicate with us here on Earth.
Modern research grounded in this physical world has apparently revealed the positive effects of bird song. Their music allows us to relax, refocus, and center ourselves in what is natural and real. For my part, I remember the way my spirit lifted with the arrival of springtime and the sound of the first robin’s call. My heart sang along with it.
Nature speaks a language that we understand when we calm our minds and enter a state of presence in the moment. Our hearts assimilate the messages, and our souls feel great joy in them.
Pulsing
Sweet zephyr riffles elegant emerald fronds, echoes river ripples.
It’s a blue-sky day, one of those beauteous blue-full, joyously jocular, splendidly splashy, exceptional days – I long to shout LIFE IS A GIFT in unmistakable letters across the blue shiny yonder, to imprint them indelibly on your mind, so you’ll –
Remember when the dark clouds roll in, on a day when life feels pissy and oh so problematic, to take a deep breath, and close your eyes, and gently pull the gray gloom aside, to see those big oh so true words I etched on blue for you, so that you’d never forget –
Here Comes The Sun. This classic Beatles song never fails to make my heart sing. According to Wikipedia: “As of 2021, it was the most streamed Beatles song on Spotify globally.”
The song is now 55 years old, written early in 1969 by George Harrison, apparently at the home of Eric Clapton. So why the sustained popularity?
There is something about the arrival of the sun that is energizing and uplifting. The song is about spring, respite from a cold, bleak winter, when the sun becomes stronger in the Northern Hemisphere. We turn our faces to the sun in gratitude, eager to embrace the fresh start.
This is why each sunrise also feels like a special gift, deep in our souls. It is a tangible sign of each day’s new beginning, and all of the opportunity that comes with it.
Hence this haiku I wrote to celebrate the enduring presence of the sun in our lives:
Grateful for you, Sun, your ceaseless radiance greets and anchors my day.
Inspirational quotes:
“Watch the sunrise at least once a year, put a lot of marshmallows in your hot chocolate, lie on your back and look at the stars, never buy a coffee table you can’t put your feet on, never pass up a chance to jump on a trampoline, don’t overlook life’s small joys while searching for the big ones.” ~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“He who kisses joy as it flies by will live in eternity’s sunrise.” ~ William Blake
“Egyptians believe in the power of the sunrise. They believe each morning begins not just a new day, but a new world.” ~ Rick Riordan
“Every sunrise is an invitation for us to arise and brighten someone’s day.” ~ Richelle E. Goodrich
“Every sunrise is priceless, and you can experience the richness that life holds only when you live life to the full instead of just being an onlooker.” ~ Stephen Richards
Wishing you a wonderful weekend! Go for a drive, and find a dirt road somewhere. Park the car, and get out and walk some of it. Feel the sun on your face and the soft breeze. Hear the birds and smell the green grass.
Or if you cannot in this moment, simply let your mind wander down the road in this beautiful photo, courtesy of Olavi-a (from Sweden), Pixabay. Perhaps it will inspire you to find a dirt road in real life, some day.
Gift yourself with a little adventure! Exploring is expansive and rejuvenating to the mind, body, and spirit. That little dirt road could very well set your soul free.
More inspiring quotes by John Muir:
“The mountains are calling and I must go.”
“The world’s big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”
“There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother-love showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties”
“One learns that the world, though made, is yet being made; that this is still the morning of creation; that mountains long conceived are now being born, channels traced for coming rivers, basins hollowed for lakes…”
“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer.”
Susan L Hart / Author 