Can you feel it? The warming sun on your skin? Are you starting to remember the smell of rain on dusty roads? Can you feel the soft green grass underneath your feet? The cool mist of water on your face? Can you see the blossoms in the trees budding?

Why yes, dear friends! After another cold and dry winter – Spring has finally arrived! And as always – I am absolutely giddy with the prospects of leaving all of my winter clothes behind. No more stuffed sausage syndrome – no more itchiness from nylon stockings or nylon socks. Just natural mosquito bite itching.

You all know by now how much I adore Spring. New beginnings and new adventures – regardless of the circumstances. Coming from a cold place, where everything was killed by the frost and if it was considering survival – burnt to the ground and still, Spring healed everything and brought it back to life. How fortunate are we not to experience such a miracle every single year?

But I also came to realise, that sometimes there isn’t change at all. Sometimes even as the seasons change – some conditions remain exactly the same. Why is that, though? Why do we sometimes hope for a new adventure or beginning, while simultaneously holding on to the same habits or tactics we had for years? Unless of course – our adventures are dependent on other people changing or different conditions around us, etc.

Will I only have a great Spring with new beginnings, if I am in control of every situation? Holding on to the moral high ground; virtue signaling; guilt-tripping and other styles of emotional dominance? Will my new adventure only be great if I can convince other people it is? Will this year be different if I slack on introspection and simply continue to look for faults in other people?

Or will Spring only be great this year, if I only focus on myself and my own needs? My own story and how to tell it?

I think that self-improvement is very difficult if we don’t consider the impact from outside sources on us or the impact we also have. Interaction with people and our circumstances. Our responses to things out of our control. The need to control situations that does not involve us directly – whether we like it, or not. Our want to get people to behave in manners that we want them to; and subtle ways that we’ve learned to make it happen. And if I don’t get what I want, to isolate myself as a method of protection.

Does this actually work for new blossoms? I don’t think so. Not sustainably…

But because I adore how nature comes to life and I am truly at my happiest in nature, I want to make a metaphorical reference to my own observations.

Now, to make it clear – I do not have green fingers (yet), but I do have a green heart. So, I want to explain from my perspective, what I think needs to happen in order for growth (or blossoms) after a long dry winter.

• There needs to be hardships. Cold nights, freezing winds. Over a prolonged period of time. But during this time – the roots need to be solid in its foundation. If it’s not solid and grounded – the winter will be too long. The fire can scorn, and even prune, but not go into the roots or burn through the branches. The tree will not focus on the trees around it. It will not be pretentious or behave in a manner that will need approval by it’s surrounding nature. Nor will it be harsh to the plants surrounding it, in order to protect itself. It will literally only be grounded in its roots.

• It also needs to be rooted in its natural habitat. As beautiful as some plants can look, those will require extra protection during those cold nights if it’s not natural. Natural plants will grow without sensitivity in the places where it’s meant to be. Sometimes when we force something – it will last for a couple of years, but it cannot last indefinitely.

• And lastly – It cannot function on its own to come back to life. It needs the right soil, nutrients, sunlight and moisture – and only then, can it start with its regrowth. If our expectation is to function alone – we will end up not functioning at all.

That being said – the right type of people is unbelievably important. Stop trying to explain yourself to people who has not only – not walked in your shoes, but are dismissing your past journeys to justify their own actions. There’s a difference between help and support. True care and concern; and co-dependency. And whatever your expectation of other people is – make sure your offer the same. No one likes a hypocrite.😊

I don’t know what tree each and everyone of us are. We are all so different. I know some trees can withstand colder temperatures and others warm weather. Some can take a lot of rain and other can become quickly saturated.

But I know we all have a place. To control, isolate, force or overly protect yourself – will only do harm to yourself in the long run. Please don’t do that to yourself, anymore…

So, relax – exactly where you are. Pull back when you want to control or force. Close your eyes when you feel the heat on your skin. Feel the grass underneath your feet. Take in your surroundings and allow for your new chapters and adventures to simply just ‘be’. Be gentle with yourself and others, without fooling yourself completely.

Happy Spring, dearest friends! I hope this year we can all realise that our new adventures start within ourselves, going outwards. Our blossoms starts within. All the way from our roots.

Have a lovely week!