“Winter returned again this morning.”
At least that was my first thought as I stepped out of my apartment building and the cold air bit me in the face.
Sometimes the warm sunny days of early spring make me feel like it could never get cold again, that spring is really here. Yet, I catch myself every time I say that.
Winter is not back, the cold air is part of spring.
It reminded me that the beginning of spring is not all sunshine & blooming flowers, there is room for the cold too. Both exist. Spring flowers start to bloom, while brutally cold days persist, holding on tightly. It’s all part of it, part of the slow rebirth.
Inspiration follows the same ebbing and flowing path of spring. Days of warmth and sunshine, days of excitement and ideas, feeling high as the sky. Days where it feels like nothing is moving, winter is back and back into hiding I go, it’s not time to emerge quite yet, how could I be so naive?
The birth of a new idea is spring. The cold air is resistance constantly slapping me in the face when I least expect it. Reminding me of the limits I face, of reality, of all that could go wrong. The familiar voice of resistance that is always part of it, cautioning me to be realistic.
And then the sun shines down again, getting stronger each day and with it inspiration flows. A glimpse of hope as the flowers pop up through the dirt, whispering in my ear not to give up yet. And I couldn’t possibly give up now, not when the daffodils and light-green baby leaves are cheering me on.
Round and round it goes.
The upward spiral of spring, the upward spiral of inspiration.