The seasons come and go each year. As I try to move my life towards a life more in tune with nature, I find myself struggling to find meaning in the seasons. Sure I can read about the symbolism of each season, but after several years, I’ve learned that someone else’s thoughts about what the seasons should mean aren’t necessarily what they mean to me.
Our souls speak to us in patterns. Looking back at my purchase history, wishlists, and just noticing things that I gravitate to each spring has helped me understand what spring means to my soul.
Every spring, I’m struck with a longing in my soul. I am reaching for something that I can’t quite put into words. Spring typically is a season for renewal, rebirth, and fertility – for planting seeds, for awakening from the winter cold and lethargy. Spring calls to my soul. It beckons me towards renewal and rebirth but how exactly does that manifest in my life.
I live in the South. My spring starts at a different time than it does for other parts of the US, much less the world. The spring equinox almost seems mid-spring to me rather than the official first day of spring. Even my daughter intuitively understands this. When the spring equinox comes each year, I tell her that it is the first day of spring. This year she looked at me and said, “No, it isn’t. It’s been spring a while here.”
Ah yes, there is so much we can learn by looking at the world like our children do. They simply observe and know. Her comment started me thinking about why should I follow a calendar to tell me when spring starts. If I want to become more in tune with nature, why not look at nature for her signs of spring.
I’m discovering what works and doesn’t work for my soul. After spending the winter indoors, my soul is yearning for fresh air and the warmth of the sun on my skin. This year I’m letting my soul speak a little louder to me. We’ve taken to playing outside after dinner most evenings. We’ve even gone out in the rain to play tag. My daughter loves to create games and most evening we indulge her. Besides being closer to nature, this allows me to spend some time playing as a child would play. Letting my soul feel that sweet gentleness of youth once again.
I’m also drawn to starting a garden. This task scares me. It sounds like so much work that I don’t think I really want it. Yet every year I get that same feeling. This year I’ve decided to tackle an herb garden complete with a spiral built planter. Yep, there is that fear again, and yet part of me is giddy. Simple joy from planning a new garden.
Every year, almost to the day, our front lawn becomes covered in little mounds. The first year I thought that we had an ant invasion. But no, ground bees had nested there. They are always in the front yard and never stray to the neighbor’s yards. They are there for a couple of weeks and then gone until next year. I’m not sure what exactly makes our yard better than our neighbor’s yard for them. The slight difference in sunlight, the direction the slant of the hill faces, perhaps? But it doesn’t matter that I understand. The bees know what they need and find it in my yard. Much in the same way your soul knows what you need. Let your soul direct you towards the things that you need. Try not to let fear stop you. If you feel drawn to something new, look into it. Keep trying and listening to your soul until you find something that clicks.
Listening to your soul will make you so much happier than fighting against its pullings. Like me, I’m sure each spring (or summer or fall), you are drawn to certain books, activities, or people. Learn to pay attention to these patterns. See if you can figure out what your soul is trying to tell you about the current season. Don’t worry if you don’t understand why. Try listening and incorporating one thing this season.
Leave me a comment and let me know what you want to add this season. I’ll keep you posted how that herb garden is coming along.
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