Personal Equinox
Just a few minutes before I started composing this post, the sun was directly over the equator and spring arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. I sat quietly, tuning into my breathing, at 4:01 a.m. CST to mark the occasion. I appreciate the balance and renewal that arrive with the vernal equinox. I appreciate the scientists who can tell us all about the details.
I consider the difference that is coming to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, as today is their autumnal equinox. I sit in quiet awe on a planet that is rotating on its own axis once every 24 hours and continuing the annual revolution it takes around a star that is 93 million miles away. Incredible!
Today, daylight and nighttime will almost equally split time. Then, folks in our neck of the woods will start enjoying longer daylight until well into September. I love spring and all that it brings. It can be messy though, just like our daily lives.
Thank you to Grateful Living for offering this fitting “Word for the Day” today:
There is a hard truth to be told: before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck…But in that muddy mess, the conditions for rebirth are being created.
-Parker Palmer-
It is our own messy and muddy times-emotionally, spiritually, and mentally ugly-that the roots of growth and strength are often planted. Acceptance, patience, and humility are like spring showers and sunshine. We have to keep slogging through the muck and mire to reach clarity and a clean slate. The good news is that each day can be its own clean slate.
This hibiscus bloom arrived a couple of days before spring did here. It is stunning, awe-inspiring, humbling for my eyes and brain to fully take in. Wow! The colors and wavy patterns soothe me. I get to experience this and I choose to experience this.
Just like I can choose to find balance and renewal in my day today and every day. Perfect balance may not be possible or sustainable, but moments strung together can sure ground me in the precious reality that is offered to me right now.
