Tag: springtime

Make this Your Season to Bloom

IMG_4604Tomorrow is officially the first day of spring, and there is no better time to make this our season to bloom. Poet Anais Nin offered us her own encouragement when she wrote, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Merriam Webster defines the verb bloom as a time or season to mature into achievement of one’s potential; to flourish in beauty, freshness or excellence; to shine or glow. Does the idea of coming into full bloom feel too risky, vulnerable, difficult or even silly? Imagine if the daffodils and daisies had such thoughts!

Here are ten little seeds we can plant in our minds to help us bloom like flowers in springtime.

1. Be aware. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” Take time to contemplate tiny green leaves budding on trees and flower petals unfurling. If we train our eyes to see beauty blooming all around us, we will likely be inspired to do the same.

2. Be amazed. For months, a small bulb lies dormant deep in the ground. One early spring day, a thin green stem pushes through the cold hard dirt. Soon a bulging spathe forms at the top of the stem containing a host of flower parts that miraculously bloom into an unbelievably perfect yellow daffodil. The Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.”

3. Be yourself. A daisy doesn’t yearn to be a rose. A rose doesn’t envy a tulip. Blooming requires us to think about who we are and what we were created to be. Author Cheryl Strayed wrote, “Transformation doesn’t ask that you stop being you. It demands that you find a way back to the authenticity and strength that’s already inside of you. You only have to bloom.”

4. Be ready. Don’t wait around for the perfect growing conditions to come into full bloom. “The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all,” said Walt Disney. If a wildflower can grow through a crack in a concrete sidewalk, we can surely bloom wherever we are planted.

5. Be joyful. Just as flowers brighten someone’s day, so can we. French essayist Joseph Joubert said, “Politeness is the flower of humanity.” Simply being cheerful and kind can bring joy to everyone we encounter. Having a joyful demeanor is a habit that just takes a little practice.

6. Be hardy. A delicate yet tenacious flower can survive downpours and droughts. Flowers get trampled on by thoughtless feet and paws. Have you ever watered wilted flowers and watched them magically revive? Like resilient flowers, we can resolve to keep blooming even when everything isn’t coming up roses.

7. Be colorful. Flowers bloom in such beautiful colors! Bringing these colors into our clothing and surroundings can add happiness to our everyday lives. In her book Choosing Happiness Alexandra Stoddard wrote, “What brings me great joy is to surround myself with nature, to select colors that have happy associations with the beauty I experience on a spring day when the sun shines, highlighting the world’s freshness and luminescence.”

8. Be relaxed. Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin…” Each and every flower, like each and every one of us, was wonderfully made. There’s no use in worrying and fretting about life. Rather than being anxious, we can relax into who we are and bloom naturally like the flowers.

9. Be caring. Master gardeners plan, prune, weed, fertilize and lovingly care for their plants and flowers. “People are like flowers. Some need only a little tending to, and who knows what kind of beautiful blooms may burst forth,” said writer Meredith Barron. In order to bloom, we must take time to care for ourselves and others the way a gardener might tend to prized roses.

10. Be grateful. All a flower needs to bloom is some good soil, a little light and water. Most of us are blessed with everything we need to thrive, but we often misuse our resources or take them for granted. This spring, let’s be thankful for the sun and the rain and all the metaphorical dirt that work together to help us grow so we can come into full bloom. §

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.”
~Frances Hodgson Burnett, from The Secret Garden

March Presence ~ Truly Listening

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Gorgeous weather beckoned Mike and me to sit on the back porch this week. Exhausted from yard work, we sat in silence taking in the sounds of spring. First came the whoosh of dove wings flapping against the air and landing under our bird feeders with a low and gentle, “Coo, Coo.” Next we heard the familiar sound of an unseen cardinal calling, “Birdie, Birdie, Birdie!” A robin seemed to answer with a musical tweet that sounded like, “Cheer up, Cheer up, Cheer up!”  Soon there was an entire symphony of birds serenading a deep orange setting sun. Without trying, we were practicing presence.

Throughout the week, I noticed the many chances I had to be fully present by fully listening. There was the wonderful jazz concert at our local museum featuring two cellists and a pianist with the voice of an angel. There was a bible study on Esther. A touching eulogy for a dear friend’s mother. A sermon on Daniel. A couple of meetings. Several prayers and songs of praise. And many conversations. Each experience was enhanced by being present and truly listening.

Listening can be hard. As a teacher, I often saw thirty faces sitting in front of me in complete silence. I’d like to think they were mesmerized by my every word, but I know from experience they were not. They were thinking about middle school drama, how their hair looked, or what was for lunch. They were looking through me at something across the room, or out the window, or in a daydream.

One time I was in a passionate lecture on some beautiful piece of literature when a student suddenly raised his hand. “Yes?” I said expectedly. He asked matter of factly, “Did you get your hair cut?” Every teacher empathizes with the classroom scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In a dreadfully monotone voice, the teacher repeats, “Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?” That poor burned-out teacher may as well have been talking to a wall.

Adolescents aren’t the only ones who have trouble listening. Have you ever thought you were listening, only to suddenly realize you’d been off in la-la-land? It can be difficult to stay present. We can be better listeners by setting an intention to clear our minds and stay present. When our thoughts drift off, we can gently bring them back again and again.

Mother Teresa said, “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” Sitting outside on that beautiful evening did feel a little like a prayer, and I thanked God for the happy sounds of spring and for my sweet husband sitting beside me. Listening is a way to show our gratitude for music, for sermons, for conversation, for sounds of nature that make our hearts sing like the birds on a gorgeous spring day. §

“The earth has music for those who listen.”
~ Reginald Holmes, poet of The Magic of Sound

Springtime Encourages Us to Be Possibilitarians

IMG_4331The calendar has finally turned to March and spring is almost here! If this was our first spring to see grass turn green, flowers burst from the ground, and robins hatch from tiny turquoise eggs we might think, “Impossible!” Springtime is a season of hope, optimism and endless possibilities.

In his distinctive voice, the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said, “I challenge you to become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities ~ always see them, for they’re always there!”

Peale, who died in 1993, was a minister and bestselling author of The Power of Positive Thinking. Peale also had a successful radio broadcast called The Art of Living, and I recently listened to a recording of him discussing optimism and the idea of being a possibilitarian. Peale credited a friend for introducing him to the word and explained, “A possibilitarian is one who sees the possibilities rather than the impossibilities.”

Peale recounted a time when he had a problem that really had him stumped. “No matter how I tried, I just couldn’t see the silver lining to that cloud,” he said. So he went to his friend, a possibilitarian, who said he never did see a problem that didn’t have a soft spot if you just keep poking. “Sure as daybreak,” Peale exclaimed, “he found that spot!” Peale said he learned there are always possibilities where there seem to be none at all.

Emily Dickinson wrote, “I dwell in possibility.” Her poem 466, compares possibility to a physical structure in which one can live. Her house of possibility is a strong one with windows, doors, rooms and an “everlasting roof”. She welcomes visitors to this house and “gathers paradise” through possibilities.

So how do we learn to dwell in possibility? In the short radio broadcast I listened to, Peale said possibilitarians have a simple, honest optimism toward life. “Although optimism begins in the heart, you’ll find it has a way of working its way up through your mind until it shows on your face and in everything you do,” he said.

Make no mistake, Peale doesn’t believe optimists are ones who stick their heads in the sand and ignore realities of life. He said, “A true optimist sees all the difficulties, but unlike the negative thinkers, the optimist sees difficulty in terms of solutions.”

I’ve been accused of being an eternal optimist, which may be a result of reading so many books with happy endings. When faced with the impossible, I think of a song from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. “It’s possible! For a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage. It’s possible! For a plain country bumpkin and a prince to join in marriage. It’s possible!” Sure it’s a fairy tale, but it’s also a joyous reminder that impossible things happen every day.

Go ahead and call me an optimist, a dreamer or a dewy-eyed dope, but I prefer the term possibilitarian. Springtime gives us all reason to believe in the impossible. I stand with Peale, Dickinson, Cinderella and Audrey Hepburn who said, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, I’m possible!” §

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”
~ Thomas Edison

The Elegance of Impressionism ~ 6 Ways To Live Like an Artist This Spring

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Spring is fickle here in the Midwest. It flirts and teases us with lovely days, but we’re never surprised by its capricious nature. On this cold and rainy April morning, I’m curled in front of the fireplace with a favorite book about Impressionist art. Admiring cheerful works with names like Water Lilies, Afternoon Tea, and The White Orchard, I disappear in the verdant beauty of springtime scenes and dream of these six ways to be inspired by the elegance of Impressionism.

1. Let nature inspire. Nature and Impressionism go hand-in-hand. The movement began with a few Parisian painters who went to the countryside to capture the transient effects of sunlight. The idea of painting en plein air, or outdoors, was a dramatic departure from painting in studios. Claude Monet said, “The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.” This spring be sure to enjoy nature with a picnic, a neighborhood stroll, or a good book read under a tree.

2. Appreciate ordinary moments. Impressionists painted candid glimpses of everyday people at work and play ~ a bowl of fruit, friends having lunch, a walk in the garden. Their work is a reminder to appreciate the significance and beauty in everyday rituals and pastimes. How sweet is the ritual of waking to the chirping of birds and taking a few minutes to listen to their springtime song.

3. Color your world. “Color in a picture is like enthusiasm in life,” said Vincent Van Gogh. The Impressionists valued pure, brilliant, and saturated pigments. They developed a method of painting that celebrated light, movement, and vibrant color. Nothing says spring like flowers. I love filling our home with colorful blooms and wearing floral blouses and dresses.

4. Loosen up a little. Impressionism was spontaneous and informal in style and subject. The artists broke away from serious historical and mythological themes. Instead, they freely painted contemporary subjects with visible, colorful brush strokes that weren’t carefully blended or shaded. The result was a joyful impression of real life. This season begs us to lighten up and skip, hop, or twirl like a child.

5. Be open to new ideas. The Impressionists, who preferred to be called Independents, faced harsh opposition and criticism from the established art community. They were considered radicals who broke every rule of the French Academy of Fine Arts. Rejected by the Salon de Paris, the annual state-sponsored art show, the artists held their own show in 1874. As it turned out, they were on to something the art world would eventually embrace. Spring is a good time to soften our hearts and reconsider some of our tired, stuffy thinking.

6. Make it pretty. Perhaps what draws me most to Impressionism is an underlying philosophy about creating a beautiful life in the midst of challenges. Pierre-Auguste Renoir said, “To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” This spring, let’s fill our lives with as much simple beauty as possible.

I know springtime will eventually come to stay and quickly melt into summer. The trees will regain their splendor, perennials will magically bloom, and life will imitate art. Until then, I need only escape with a few of my favorite Impressionists, either through a book or a trip to the museum, to paint my life with the elegance of an artist.§

“All of a sudden I had the revelation of how enchanting my little pond was.” ~ Claude Monet

The Elegance of National Poetry Month

IMG_1039April is the loveliest month for hopeless romantics with a penchant for all things spring. Add National Poetry Month to the calendar, and it’s enough to make this former literature teacher’s heart skip a beat.

A perfect spring day allowed me to take my classes outside to teach a poem among the birds and the bees and eighth grade hormones in full bloom. There’s nothing quite like reading poetry with young hearts inspired by dreamy talk of love and life. My teaching days are behind me now, but I will forever celebrate two of my favorite things in April – springtime and poetry.

Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is a reminder of the integral role poetry plays in our culture. National Poetry Month has grown to become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of participants of all ages marking poetry’s importance in our lives.

There’s an extensive website at poets.org that offers activities and resources so anyone can join in the celebration. Discover dozens of ways to participate in National Poetry Month and sign-up for a free Poem-a-Day. Follow thousands of events through social media with the official hashtag #NationalPoetryMonth and follow the Academy of American Poets on Twitter and Instagram @POETSorg.

The arrival of spring, along with National Poetry Month, may be just the one-two punch we all need to get through a time of unrelenting shared worries and sorrows. Poetry can help us express our emotions and fills our heads and hearts with loftier thoughts. Our country’s Poet Laureate Joy Harjo said, “Without poetry, we lose our way.”

As birds sing their springtime song and faithful flowers pop up to say hello again, poetry can remind us of the peaceful rhythm of nature and that nothing we experience is unique to the human condition.

Let words like these from William Wordsworth’s 1804 poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud soothe your soul and breathe elegance into your day, “For oft when on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive mood, they flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude, and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils!” §

“If you cannot be the poet, be the poem.” ~ David Carradine

The Elegance of Growth

The anticipation of spring has me longing to write about growth, that natural urge to enrich and improve ourselves and our lives. On this bright and sunny morning I decide, for some reason, the public library is the place that will bring inspiration. 

Except for wifi, the C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library hasn’t changed much since I came here as a child. I walk up the staircase toward the second floor where I sometimes studied in high school and become lost in the memory of a little girl in a plaid dress and ponytails reaching up to tightly grasp the oak banister. My hand slides along the railing, worn silky smooth from use, and I find myself on the third floor where the children’s section used to be, and still is. 

My childlike voice surprises me when I timidly whisper hello to the librarian. I quietly position myself at a small table hoping to be inspired by an ancient budding elm tree just outside the window. Sitting awkwardly in a small wooden chair, I ignore my laptop and let every sight, sound, and smell of the familiar space wash over me like a spell. 

Rising dreamlike, I slowly run my hand along a bookshelf, lightly touching the spines of Sounder, James and the Giant Peach, The Secret Garden, The Chronicles of Narnia. I smile at them like old friends.

For nearly an hour I try to focus on writing, but I’m distracted by a little girl I once knew sitting cross-legged in the corner lost in the big woods with Laura and Pa. I shake her out of my mind and read the quote I had jotted down by Mr. Twain. 

“What’s the most rigorous law of our being? Growth. No small atom of our moral, mental, or physical structure can stand still a year. It grows – it must grow smaller or larger, better or worse – it cannot stand still. In other words, we change, and must change, constantly and keep on changing as long as we live.”

Springtime helps us understand what Twain was talking about. Butterflies and birds, flowers and leaves, offer tangible reminders of the miracle and beauty of growth. The transformation that comes each spring is easier for us to appreciate than the much slower moral, mental, and personal growth to which Twain refers.

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional,” said John Maxwell. But grow we must, as individuals, as a nation, as a global society. Going backwards, regression, is not growth, even when shrouded as nostalgia, heritage, or tradition. Growth is natural, essential, often painful, but ever so elegant. 

We may find ourselves sitting in the same place, in the same chair, reading the same book as we did a lifetime ago. We should drink in the memories, yet delight in knowing every feeling, every thought, every word is new, because we are new. We are faithfully growing in body, mind, and spirit, like flowers in springtime. §

“Watching something grow is good for morale. It helps us believe in life.”
~ Myron S. Kaufman