Spring's reaffirmation of life...

TODAY’S QUOTE:
--------------------
"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life."

--Sophia Loren, Italian film actress, b.1934
==============================
Today's thought is:

Spring's reaffirmation of life is a theme that comes up repeatedly in the course of conversations with gardeners. This is the season that most often serves as a symbolic parallel for our own lives, inspiring us to flourish and bloom anew.

"Spring is a wonderful season," an Iowa gardener named Rachel told me. "The earth wakes up and you do too." When you tend your garden during this time of year, you always get back much more than you put into it. The garden fills your soul with hope.

A garden enthusiast named Ellen said that, for her, spring is a time of strength, anticipation, and almost grandiose delusions about what can be accomplished in the coming year. "My life feels full of promise and my energy is renewed. I love it when the lilies, the lilacs, the magnolias, and the mock oranges arise from their dormancy and come into bloom, because then I know that we've all survived a long, cold winter and that warm, smoothing days lie ahead.

"Gardening is the true embodiment of hope," Ellen continued, "hope for things to come that will somehow be better than the past. The seasons of my garden renew my belief that just about anything is possible. I know it sounds crazy, but one of the first things I do when the snow begins to melt is run out and put my hands in the dirt. It really makes me feel good and I suddenly feel much stronger."

My friend Bonnie is someone who, like Ellen, finds something truly magical about the great awakening of her garden each spring. "I pay attention to all those silly and not so silly observations that I hear people making about spring and rebirth," she told me. "My garden seems completely dead throughout the winter and suddenly one day you see these little sprouts coming out of the earth. It just gives me a great feeling. Every day I simply have to go out there and look around, and I swear I notice a difference each time I look around. It's a very exciting thing to do."

Iris is a gardener in Los Angeles. "One April morning," she recalled, "I was up at about five o'clock, and the sun hadn't come up yet. It was that wonderful, quiet space of time when the light is very soft and muted. I looked at the garden, and the dew was still on it. It was like crystal. It was so delicately beautiful. Because it was spring, the plants were full of new growth and every shade of green that you could imagine. Experiencing the garden that morning was so very good for my soul."
*****

Peace be with you always,

Miguel-Angel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To announce that there must be no criticism of
the president, or that we are to stand by the
president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public." -Theodore Roosevelt, May 7,1918
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you constantly seek the validation of others,
you will often be disappointed. Yet when you live,
and love and act in each moment with the best
that you have to give, the real value you create
can never be diminished." - Ralph Marston
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it
will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy:"
-- James Madison
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) 2004 Miguel-Angel Carmen de Santiago-León
All rights and privileges reserved
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~