Signs of Spring

Like many others, I am eager for signs of Spring. I remember when I was quite young my older sister would take me out for walks in search of signs of Spring.

The pussy willows, the snow drops, the crocus ... all poking their heads up, as if to say, “ta-da!! we made it through another winter!”

Here we all are searching for signs of Spring – in our gardens, in our neighbourhood, and in ourselves.

We remember the seeds that were held in the darkness, cozy through the longest night.

We remember the seed that called to us at Imbolc. The seed that we carry with us even now. The mysterious seed that will grow and bloom into ... what?

It is very likely that it isn’t time for that seed to start showing itself yet. It may not be one of the early risers from winter's slumber.

So how do we navigate this in-between time? This time that is not deep winter, but not quite spring, either.

This is a between time. This is that place that is not one thing, nor is it another.

In permaculture, they talk about the edge as the place of incredible diversity and possibility. The shore, where the ocean meets the land is rich with a huge variety of plants and other creatures.

Seen through a spiritual lens, the edge, with its rich abundance, is a place of creativity and change. It can be uncomfortable in that place that is not one thing, or another, but it is a place we need to visit time and time again.

The challenge here is to become more comfortable with not knowing. When we can do this, we can begin to understand that this in-between place in our lives, is a place of potential, and opportunity.

This edge, this in-between place is liminal. The liminal that is a threshold of change and adventure is another kind of boundary work. Here we are not saying “yes” or “no”.

Rather, we are bridging the known and the unknown and saying “I wonder?”

A friend describes this as suspension – a spiritual pause between breaths.

Magically, the liminal is where we can meet something that has been beyond our capacity to even imagine before this moment.

And, so, we hold within us a seed that is imbued with the mystery of the liminal.

We don’t know what this seed will grow in our lives. We perhaps cannot even imagine what we might want the seed to be.

We feel its power as we stand here in this liminal place between Imbolc and Spring Equinox (Ostara).

As with so many things, the first action we need to take is to breathe.

Breathe deep and full, and let your breath relax your physical body and return you to your centre.

Feel the soles of your feet opening into the Earth.

Feel your connection to all that stirs and grows in the green world. Perhaps you can sense the calm, power, and ease emanating from the green world as it shifts from winter into spring.

Without knowing what the future holds, the spring will emerge, in its own time, in its own way.

Open to the possibility of your own calm, and your own ease.

Without knowing what the future holds, breathe into the seed of potential that is emerging within your own spirit, within your own life.

Your breath can guide you to your own place of power. Your breath and your calm presence is the sustenance your potential needs.