On my morning walk last week, I saw tiny yellow and green growth pushing up from the earth of what I can assume are the start of daffodils. Spring! Yes!
Winters in Chicago can be tough, whether it’s the shorter days, the cold, or the social isolation that comes with the hibernation. While it’s still technically winter according to the zodiac (as of this writing that is – it begins March 20th!), meteorological spring began March 1st.
Winter seems to be a time where everything green and growing dies, but energy (everything in existence) is neither created nor destroyed. Life force is always there, just changes form. The outward vitality of spring and summer doesn’t really die in the winter, but retreats deeply inward into the earth for a time of rest, protection from the outer elements of snow and cold. Once I realized that, my perspective on the seasons changed ever so slightly. Not as depressing anymore!
While this winter hasn’t been too bad according to Chicago standards IMO (hello! Nearly 80 degree days in November? Walks in the park in January without a hat?), it was still winter with the shorter days (plus February was brutal with that visit with the polar vortex!).
I was so happy to see the new growth from the daffodils (at least I hope that’s what they were! If you know differently, please share in the comments).
The spark of inspiration, the momentum pushing forward are all things associated with the new growth of spring that comes at such a force around the equinox and I’m totally feeling it within my own Reiki practice. The energy seems more obvious, more palatable, more apparent within my own personal self-Reiki and in the group shares on Wednesdays. Whether it’s merely my awakening awareness to the universal life force that surrounds us all or the unconditional love of Reiki flows stronger this time of year, I’ll take it.
Jerry Mikutis
Reiki. Yoga.
