The older I get, the more I understand that growth, like most things, does not follow a linear path.  After a long tough winter, we expect the first day of spring to bring flowers and sunshine… but sometimes a blizzard comes through and covers all the fresh buds with an icy blanket and cracks weakened tree limbs.  Sometimes life throws you some curveballs, and your 1 step forward becomes 2 huge steps back. It feels like spring will never come. But then… the clouds part, the sun shines, flowers bloom, and the trees stand a little taller… ready to brace the next storm.

If we can just step back a bit and see the bigger picture, we can see that these cycles of nature exist within ourselves as well – the life/death/life cycle – and if we can allow what needs to die to go ahead and die, we make space for what is ready to blossom… for abundance and new life. Underneath the layers of snow and decaying matter is fertile ground with fresh seeds, ready and waiting to sprout. We can nurture fertile ground in ourselves through self-care, and let the parts of ourselves that no longer serve us go so they can fertilize the seeds we hold in our tender hearts… waking dreams into reality.

After a long winter that has spanned well beyond a single season and dying many little deaths, I have a few more scars, a few more wrinkles on my face… a little wiser, a little more humbled, and ready to see what wants to blossom… hoping that I can die and be born again and again with grace and humility.⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀