By Caitlyn Lentner
Finally the weather outside warms to a manageable forty degrees and my thawing fingers can at last gracefully flex. It is still too cold to move outside my makeshift gym – a yoga mat and two 5-pound weights – but I find some inner sanctity in these middle range temperatures. The earth beneath our feet feels lush and soft, slowly awakening from its winter hibernation.
It is the first day of Spring, the season of renewal. The spring season is, like the fall season, a necessary break between the extremes of winter and summer.
The best part of these in-limbo months, lacking extremity or severity in weather, is the balance they represent.
During the winter months, we retreat to our rooms and snuggle under our covers to shut out the steady and silent space of frigid desolation outside. In the summer, we frolic and rejoice in the sweltering heat as sweat beads pool on our faces.
In the spring and fall months, between the seasons of extreme weather, we find our previously lost balance. We need balance.
Perhaps the lack of holidays can accredit these feelings of peace and unmatched clarity during these transitional seasons. Colors and life speak louder than ever before.
During the spring, we bear witness to life’s renewal: blossoms and daisies bloom magically out of the tender soil in the spring, and the buds on the trees pop through before saturating the landscape in bright green. The squirrels scurry around and come alive as they play in the piles of leaves, and the birds gracefully spring amongst their friends in the trees as they bud. The equinox temperatures create the most perfect conditions for life to thrive comfortably.
During the winter, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations lie heavy on everyone’s mind, and the haze of advertisements overtake the only personal time we have, trying to sell us yet another festive chocolate bar or piece of jewelry. In the summer, we can’t help but feel distracted by the whirlwind of blowout sales on summer essentials, such as grills, tiki torches, and sunscreen.
However, in the spring and fall, we have a moment to put all these distractions aside, refocus, re-engage and reflect on how to improve ourselves and what we lack in our lives.
Without the spring or fall to allow us to look inwards, we would continue to search for balance while taking on more intense events, pushing themselves to the limit. Luckily, our environment always seems to provide just what we need to prepare ourselves for our impending journey. Despite the differences it brings to life and sometimes bearing uncomfortable situations, change characterizes an essential peace of mind and serenity.
As soon as we fall out of balance and learn towards an extreme, life can always rein it back in towards comfort and recovery.
Spring is a season to remind us to take a cue from Mother Nature and hone this skill – avoiding extremes and seeking balance – in our own lives.
