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The Lessons and Possibilities of Early Spring
Spring in New England can test a gardener. She begins her slow unfolding on March 20 and proceeds at a slow pace. Spring will not rush, no matter how much we’d like her to. Be patient, she whispers. It will all happen in due time. Patience has never been my thing, but I have learned to accept the futility of picking a fight with nature. April tends to be the month of slow marching through warmer days, cool nights, frosty mornings, and unpredictable weather. The daffodils, slightly confused by this year’s erratic temperatures, have been attempting to bloom for a while now. The landscape is still bare, but there are swelling…
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Walking
Over the weekend, I went for a hike along the river, only this time, I went to an area I had not been to for a while. The photos in this post are from my hike. The river was flowing strong under bright blue skies, and the birds were having a moment. It was a beautiful day that felt like spring. A couple of years ago, during a bad storm, the river flooded and changed its course in some places. Many trees were uprooted. Walking along the river, I could see the damage done to its banks. Same river, different landscape, new paths to take. The path ran along the riverbank.…
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Searching for Silence
Often people tend to assume that, since I grew up in Greece, summer must be my favorite season. It is true that warmer weather is easier on my body and feels more natural. Yet, summer is not my favorite season. I find extreme heat and humidity unbearable. The New England winters are no picnic either. I don’t enjoy being cold, and bundling up, in layers upon layers of heavy clothing, is something I had to get used to. Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons. In the Spring, I love watching everything come alive. The gardener in me is filled with anticipation and excitement. As for Fall … who can resist…
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Keeping It Simple
We are in the middle of December and just a few days away from the Winter Solstice. It is the holiday season when we traditionally gather with loved ones to celebrate love, light, and friendship. It is also a time of mixed emotions for many of us. Maybe memories of loss and grief are surfacing, or the dark and cold days make us want to snuggle under a blanket, with a hot cup of tea, instead of running around trying to make everything happen. You may be an introvert who prefers quality time with a handful of loved ones instead of heading to a large and loud holiday gathering. Or, you…
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How to Navigate This Season of Change and Possibilities
There is a vast difference between willingness and willfulness. Most often willfulness is based on fear. We try to make the world the way we want it by forcing solutions. Compensating for the uncertainty inside us, we become motivated by power instead of participation. Then we find struggles instead of solutions because force is often met with resistance. We stay emotionally hungry yet cannot be fed. We ask for more and more and receive less. Willingness, on the other hand, allows life to show us the way. Gunilla Norris from Becoming Bread It is late October, and the glorious rituals of Fall are in full display. Living in New England means…
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The Power of the Questions We Ask Ourselves
Is it necessary? This question has been with me for a while. I have been asking it of myself and my clients. It was the theme of this month’s gathering, and it is the focus of this post. We are approaching the Fall equinox and the season that ushers and celebrates change in a most spectacular way. I believe this question can be extremely useful as we try to figure out our next steps. What prompted the question? It all began as I was scrolling down my Twitter feed. I came across comments that people were making on a specific thread. The comments covered a range, but what struck me was…
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Saying No: An Act of Self-Care and Self-Respect
Imagine a river. Its source is at the top of a mountain. The river travels toward the sea, and its water supply is renewed by rain and melted snow. The river winds through villages and towns, and it becomes strong and plentiful along the way. The people living along the river banks use the water to grow and sustain their crops. They are grateful, but soon, they begin to take the river and its abundance for granted. They have come to believe that the river will be there forever, filled with cool, clean water for them to use and support their lives. Then, slowly, things begin to change. There has been a…
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Continued Lessons on Boundaries and Finding Balance
We are well into June, the garden is blooming, and I have resumed my hand-to-hand combat with the Queen. What is that supposed to mean? You may ask. Allow me to take you back to the beginning. When we bought our house twenty-six years ago, there were no established gardens, and I was still a novice gardener. However, there were mature trees and bushes, an abundance of rosa multiflora (wild rose), an invasive dense shrub, a 90-ft weeping willow, and pachysandra, hostas, and periwinkle growing along the stone walls and near the house. A stream cut across the backyard and into the woodland beyond. The property was wild, beautiful, and brimming…
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How to Navigate the Flow of Change Mindfully
Our culture moves fast and is outwardly focused. We are driven by our goals and our to-do lists. Sometimes it feels as if we can’t see the forest for the trees. We tell ourselves that we will rest when we complete what we have set out to do. Of course, not everything goes smoothly, no matter how diligent, disciplined, or organized we are. Things can turn out differently than expected, and life takes us on detours. When this happens, what matters is how we manage ourselves. For example, you may be well into your new beginnings. You waited a long time to change a few things and step onto a new…
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Your New Beginnings and How to Take That First Step
The seasons of a year. The return of spring.The heart grows glad when it can leaf out,when light and shadow are known to belong toone another. – Gunilla Norris We are constantly in a state of reinvention, which is never more apparent than at the onset of spring. Every day, as we look out our window and step out our front door, we are reminded that a new beginning is already underfoot. I was talking to a friend recently who mentioned how much she loves waking up early in the morning so she can stand in front of her window to watch the sunrise. Each morning, the sun rises, marking a…
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The Storms That Define Us
When the post on The Sun Always Shines After The Storm was published, some of the readers emailed me with comments that touched me deeply and inspired me. I thought to myself … Wouldn’t it be great if I wrote a follow-up post that included other people’s thoughtful insights and wisdom on the ways storms define us? At the same time, I happened to come upon and watch “An Evening with Patti Smith” that took place at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL. Something that Patti Smith mentioned about her experience with grief and loss made me search for an interview she had given many years ago. Here is…
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The Sun Always Shines After The Storm
A few weeks ago, we were hit by a snowstorm. A friend on Twitter mentioned how she loves the sun shining after a storm. I replied by saying, “It reminds me of an essay I wrote in High School, “The sun always shines after a storm.” I was 16. Sometimes I wonder how I would write it today.” She followed up with this: “Why not write an up-to-date version for who you are today?” Invitation accepted! It was the mid-70s, and I was in High School. My favorite Greek Literature teacher had instructed us to approach the essay as a metaphor for life. After we handed in our papers, we had…
