Everything Will Be Okay, Everything Will Be New

As the seasons change, so do I. Nothing can lie dormant forever, and as the trees bud and the flowers bloom, I feel in myself as well as an emergence. Nature is too delicately interwoven to be purely coincidental. If spring brings new life and fresh sunshine to the world, then how can those not be reflected in me as well?

Winer is a time of reflection, revitalization and reconnection. A time to draw inward, to become acquainted with oneself. Winter invites us to rest and to prepare for the changes coming in the spring. Winter however is also loneliness and isolation. It’s self-doubt and worry and wondering if I am good enough. The short days devoid of sun drag on, and the world is shrouded in an unshakable chill. Then, as time passes and the cold grey melts away, and all that is left is what is new and clean. The birds return, the flowers poke their heads out of the frozen ground, the people emerge from their winter hibernations to wander the streets on the first sunny March day.

A beautiful blue sky is revealed, and I see myself in the blue sky, full of optimism and wonder. I can recognize pieces of myself on the warm breeze, with its hints of promise and excitement. Spring brings with it gratitude for the smaller, more mundane moments—the warmth of the sun, the unexpected freshness of a piece of fruit, the lightness of the breeze. Simply walking down the block becomes a magnificent adventure, as the sun and the warm breeze melt away any winter chill lingering within us.

But new growth is challenging. It takes energy, and not all the days are sun-filled and warm. Rain comes, tinged with the lingering chill of winter. It rains for days, saturating the ground and shifting the former beauty into a murky chaos. The effortless optimism of those beautiful sun-filled days fades, and doubt and confusion reemerge. I feel myself slip back a bit into the dim days of winter, the melancholy and disarray I thought were fading.

Eventually though, the rain ceases. An ethereal silence is cast over the world, and the air smells fresher than it ever has. The green of the budding trees shimmers, and everything is okay again. It’s these moments when we truly see the growth—when it was grey and cold, with no end in sight.