Springtime is such an evocative time of year for me. The air is electric, and musky with the overwhelming peatyness of growth. Stuff is moving, things are changing, and it’s all very volatile.
I was out walking at a lovely, sprawling park here in Brussels yesterday with a colleague who has quickly become a friend. It was a pleasant but cloudy day. When the sun was hidden, I felt my shoulders curl protectively around my heart, and I pulled my windbreaker closed. When the sun came out, my chest rose high and wide to meet it, and my face was pulled toward the light like the sun was magnetized. Throughout our many-houred walk, my friend and I experienced this cycle of contracting against the shadows and expanding towards the sun many times. We chose which paths to take based on the light we saw up ahead of us, but often by the time we arrived, the clouds had taken over and the path was shaded. We could not control when we would be warm, and when we would feel cold. Those decisions were happening far above us. We enjoyed the sun when it came. We stopped and smiled. When the clouds rolled over, we zipped up our jackets and kept moving.
Spring is special not because stuff is moving, things are changing, and it’s all very volatile. That is true all the time, all year. Spring is special because the cycles of change are shortened, suddenly visible to us, to our naked eyes. Spring reminds us that – all year! – we should consciously stop to enjoy the countenance of the sun when it appears, and not be discouraged when the clouds come and bathe us in shadow. We should just zip up our jackets and keep moving.
Let’s Talk: What does Spring mean to you?
P.S. I took this photo yesterday, on my walk.
