Time always seems to speed up a bit the second half of March. Nearly every day the grass does look a little greener, more plants and trees are starting to bud, English sparrows, nuthatches, and black-capped chickadees race around, and on some days, we go from 55 degrees in the afternoon to wet snow in the space of a few hours!

It’s like nature is reminding us to stay on our toes and be open to change, not to fight it or resent it. Sometimes that’s a lot easier said than done but I try to keep that in mind as time seems to especially accelerate in political, economic and other realms. Maybe it’s the bombardment of information, the 24/7 news cycle, the rapid (and sometimes rabid) response to whatever today’s headlines might be, the sowing of fear, doubt, discord and distrust, especially between people who may be a bit different from ourselves.

It’s really fucking exhausting, isn’t it? Very few profit from a vestigial scenario and narrative designed to keep people on the defensive and pitted against each other  while what’s left of the natural world and its remaining indigenous populations are targeted for resource extraction.. It’s hard to be fully present and pro-active when there’s a constant barrage of threats, negativity, and dramatic plot turns and twists. Some days, it’s easier to feel complacent and powerless, overwhelmed and defeated.

When there’s heightened chaos in the natural world, though, there’s also an opportunity for heightened creativity, for different ways to move forward. Think about how the earth rebounds and recalibrates following volcanic eruptions, such as at Mount Saint Helens in Washington State, or how forest fires in 1988 regenerated the landscape of Yellowstone on a massive scale. In our backyard, a tiny horse chestnut sapling has somehow endured the coldest winter in 40 years, with over five feet of snow so far, along with freezing rain and ice!

So let’s receive a little encouragement from spring, its reminders that anything is possible when so much anticipation, hope, renewal and creativity abounds at this time of year. We are bigger than our problems and our challenges. We are not flawed and none of us are misfits. We all belong, and all of us are needed.

Thanks for reading this. I appreciate your being part of this community and hope this in some small way encourages you to keep the faith, keep on keeping on, and rock the world in encouraging ways so others will be inspired to do the same.

Happy spring!