Here we are the first day of spring. The season of new beginnings, fresh starts, rebirth. With the world experiencing a pandemic with Covid-19 closing businesses and schools and our daily lives shifting minute by minute we find ourselves standing in uncertainty, confusion, fear, and isolation.
If spring can teach us anything it can teach us that life is cyclical, precious and resilient.
As lawmakers scramble to put new systems in place we too scramble, grasp and struggle to make sense of it all. Our routines have been shaken, are way of existing temporarily disrupted and to what end, no one knows.
This is where we need to look to nature for guidance, direction and strength.
Earlier this week I went out to our back yard to gather chard and kale for my lunch and I was blown away by the abundance of our small square patch of garden. I planted the greens in the fall, hoping they would winter over, and winter over indeed they did. The green leaves were robust and quite beautiful. I picked a couple of handfuls and turned the blessings that started from small seeds into a meal. This gets me to wondering during this season of uncertainty what seeds can we plant now, literal and figurative, that will one day be ready to harvest? These seeds can come in the form of ideas, projects, habits, routines, ways of being and more.
Our little garden guides me to reflect about what I want to plant, create, uncover. When I have clarity it’s about taking that first action step. When I watch the birds and listen to their bird song I am directed to gratitude and praise for this life. Tapping into appreciation for all the good and even the unsettling renews my faith and strengthens my attitude.
Perhaps this season of uncertainty is a gift. What if we found the gold beneath the surface? What if we planted new seeds of possibility?
A few things I am trying that give me hope, purpose, peace and strength:
- Keeping up the rituals that feed me—Meditation first thing each morning. Reading something that inspires and motivates. Moving my body.
- Sticking to the routines that foster accomplishment, nourishment and peace. I could easily stay in my pajamas all day and binge watch Netflix, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it fails to foster my values. (Don’t get me wrong, every evening I am watching Schitt’s Creek for the second time in a row before I watch the final season. This makes me laugh which I find incredibly nourishing.)
- Stepping out of my comfort zone. Every day I am writing one hand written letter and sending it via snail mail. It takes patience and discipline to sit down and craft a letter, but it brings me so much joy even in the unusual nature of it. The task that is a lot more challenging for me that I have committed to daily is calling one person a day that I wouldn’t normally call—a neighbor I never see, someone I have never spoken to on the phone, someone from my past.
When you find yourself doing something, check in and ask yourself: Does this activity, action, way of being feed me? Am I experiencing nourishment, accomplishment, or peace? These questions keep us from getting caught up in draining, unfulfilling activity.
If you are experiencing anxiety you can also use these questions to bring you into the present moment. Anxiety usually stems from thoughts of the future and yes, we are all in a place of uncertainty about our future. Start like the seed and go within. As a seed begins in dark soil, below the surface, so must we.
Pause. Get still. Find your breath. Feed yourself with what nourishes. Create peace within when chaos is all around.
This Covid-19 season won’t last. Remember life is cyclical. This may not be the new beginning you were seeking but like the resilient kale in my garden, dig deep for strength and anchor to what nourishes your body, mind and spirit.
Cheers, Jenny
