This time of year has been magical. We were able to experience snow days. Now as the days are getting a bit longer and a tad warmer, you hear the sounds from nature gearing towards spring. The birds are singing so much and the woodpeckers are hard at work. Nature gives so many cues as to what’s next.
I remember when I had first moved to Atlanta. I was living in a high-rise on the 17th floor. Yes, it was beautiful, hip, and fun, but it was also painfully loud. Everyone said, “Oh that? You’ll get used to it.” I always thought that sounded so odd. I didn’t want to get used to that, I wanted to have a peaceful space to live.
There’s nothing wrong with city life, but it’s not for me. I enjoy being able to visit when I want, but there’s so much noise that it makes me feel off. I quickly moved out of the thick of things when that lease was up and moved right outside of midtown. Now of course, we are definitely away from the city and it’s so good for the soul.
Anyplace that I have lived before here made it challenging for me to just “be.” I always found myself planning trips to parks to get my nature fix. Now I can just look outside and see deer and birds. When the mind has a chance to step away from all of that stimuli, something shifts.
At first the quiet is very loud. All those ruminating thoughts can be enough to drive you mad. However, as you lean into the quiet and become more still it releases some of the strongholds that have kept you bound for so long. Now I have space in my brain to dream again.
I find myself dreaming of flowers and our garden. It’s still too cold to start outdoors, but we will start our onion seedlings indoors this week. Next month is peppers, tomatoes, and some of our medicinal herbs. For those cold hearty crops, we will start directly sowing those outside the end of next month. I’m really excited for Mateo to learn more this year. He has his own garden tools and we’ve been planting seeds with him about what it means to garden and when we will do it.
The act of sowing seeds is also metaphorical. All the great things we do in this life start with us planting a seed. It can also be negative things that we sow as well. It’s so critical to watch what we plant because as the saying goes, we reap what we sow. If we plant positive things, tend to them, and remain engaged, we typically reap really good things. When we sow negative thoughts, allow them to run ragged in our minds untamed, and keep clinging to them, we reap more negativity, anxiety, and even depression.
Right now I am listening to the creek water flow. Water is amazing like that…nothing can stop it. It just keeps flowing and flowing. Nothing can stop it. It slowly etches it’s way through all that stands between it and it’s destination. So get out and get some fresh air and flow like water. I encourage you to take a step out into nature today. We weren’t meant to be inside all day.
Be blessed!
