We are in the first stirrings of Spring, and everywhere I look something is sprouting or blooming, as if to praise the blue skies and reach for the warm sun. This first blush of the season awakens the child in me, and every sight of the purple blossoms of the jacaranda feels like the first, filled with awe and joy. Awe and wonder are necessary nourishment for the soul, and something essential in us starves without them. The innocence of just being present, witness to the beauty and magic of the rhythms of life, feeds my heart and calms my mind. It reminds me that we are a part of those rhythms, and we also go through cycles of winters and springs. And we, too, can be made new again.
The wonder of beauty reminds me to take a deep breath and fully take in and feel the moment… openness to beauty and wonder is a quality of true presence. Beauty is a way of seeing as well as a description of something seen, it is seeing with fresh eyes. Receiving the gift. Beauty is Truth, it is said… it breaks open the heart of tenderness, asking to be let in, to change us, to shift our perspective and bring us fully into the moment.
‘I am restored by beauty’ is a refrain from a much shared Navajo prayer, and has been an oft-repeated mantra for me in my life. Beauty restores me to wonder and returns me to gratitude. I invite you to find your own renaissance of wonder this Spring, through beauty or whatever miracle of life brings you home to your heart. When life is challenging, we need that more than ever to nourish and strengthen us.
Happy Spring!
Note – A Renaissance of Wonder is a poem by Lawrence Farlinghetti