In my native Texas the sun is shining, the grass is green, the trees are putting out, people are wearing shorts, and the Blue Bonnets and Indian Paintbrush will soon be in full bloom.
I spent my first March in Vermont eight years ago lamenting the absence of these familiar signs of spring. I thought spring would never come and indeed using my yardstick it didn’t get here until May, a full two months after my timetable said it was supposed to arrive.
Now, having adjusted to the much more subtle signs of a Vermont spring, I see promise everywhere. The daylight is lasting longer and we are occasionally getting daytime highs in the 40s. A little of the snow has melted and the two-foot-long icicles are gone from the eves of my house. Sugar season is in full swing and the first robin is surely only weeks away.
For us Vermonters this is a hopeful time when spring seems just around the corner. We begin to dream of daffodils, lilacs, and crab-apple blossoms. We look forward to jackets and sweaters instead of down coats and start thinking about our toes peeking out of sandals instead of wrapped in wool inside our winter boots. In May when we are still longing for sweaters and naked toes we can become a little grumpy but for now we are filled with the delicious possibility of abandon.
Spring is a metaphor for renewal and new beginnings, a time to spring into action. So what’s been sitting dormant inside you all winter that wants to see the light of day? Maybe it’s a desire to climb a mountain, change careers, plan a retreat, take a cross-country road trip, go back to school. Whatever it is you’ve put it off long enough. It’s time to put your goal in writing and take one action that will get you started. Don’t be overwhelmed by how big it is, just take one step. Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet but the rest of us humans have to make our journey one step at a time.
Sue Monk Kidd said, “Inside each of us is a place where our dreams go and wait their turn.” What inside you is wanting and waiting it’s turn?
