“‘Is the spring coming?’ he said. ‘What’s it like?’… ‘It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine, and things pushing up and working under the earth.'”
– Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Though we may feel unable to appreciate the outside world during this time, spring is upon us no matter what. The sown seeds sprouting through fresh earth can touch more than our spirits but our awareness of nature and the complexity of our senses. Walking through a bustling forest welcomes sounds we had not realized we missed: the birds singing their mating calls, water flowing over stones and sticks, and deer grazing on the newly bloomed clovers.
Take a moment in nature. Allow yourself to become more grounded in your surroundings. Find your breath growing full. Give yourself want to be more like the growing hepaticas and meadow-rues, stretching their roots deeper and deeper into the earth to feel belonging and attachment.
Hopefully, you are able to find some peace in the small certainties of springtime: the rain will be plenty, the sun will grace us with its presence, and the ecosystems within the forests will become alive again.