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How to Find Our Way Through the Muck of Negative Thoughts and Emotions
This is the time of year when I write about the messages and metaphors of Spring as they relate to our new beginnings, and there are many. All one needs to do is look around and notice how everything is coming alive again, rapidly and undeniably, in glorious colors. The barren landscape of winter is giving way to life and new growth. In my garden, the trees are leafing out, and something new is blooming every day. The birds and the squirrels are keeping busy preparing for the months ahead. Every day, at 05:32 a.m., the birds begin to sing, announcing the beginning of a new day and urging me out…
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How to Set a Clear Intention During Times of Seasonal and Personal Change
Early spring is messy, isn’t it? Most trees are still bare. It tends to rain a lot, the ground is muddy and soft, and although the temperatures are warming up, it is still cold enough to require coats and heavy sweaters. Patches of green moss are coming alive, and the daffodils are blooming, but the yard and the flower beds look messy and beat up. This transition period between endings and new beginnings almost always feels messy and uncertain. Every time we catch a glimpse of what is next, the clouds move over the sun, the wind picks up, and we turn back inside for safety and warmth. The first day…
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The Season for Clearing and Making Room for Growth
Happy February, I hope the new month unfolds in ways that support and inspire you as you move forward, creating your vision for the new year. This time of the year usually moves slowly for me. It is winter, after all, a time to slow down and linger, reflect, ask questions, and gain clarity before moving forward with what the new year asks of me. There are loss anniversaries to cope with, but there are also new beginnings to honor and celebrate. February is a landmark month for me. I was born in February. Thirty-nine years ago, I left Greece to move to the US, and in a few weeks, Neal…
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Finding Refuge – Creating Sanctuary
We are in mid-October, and fall, once again, is bathing New England in golden and red hues. The march towards the cold time of the year has begun. As always, this season is rich in metaphors for endings and new beginnings, letting go, and preparing for the changes coming our way. Many of us talk and write about it, but this year, it is the animals’ behavior that caught my attention. They are obviously preparing for the cold months ahead. They are working tirelessly to fortify their nests and gather their provisions. They are being proactive because they know what’s coming. That’s when I began to reflect on the idea and…
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Two Benches in Newport, RI
Recently, one of my daughters and I spent a weekend together in Newport, RI. It’s not often that I get to go away alone with the girls. The four of us usually spend time together as a family. Ana and I had a great time together. We walked and hiked, shared meals, stories, and laughter, and caught up with one another. On Saturday afternoon, after a two-hour walk on the Cliffwalk, while driving back to our hotel, I noticed two bright yellow benches sitting in two different corners of a large garden surrounding a beautiful old home. The road in front of the house was busy. There was a lot of…
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When the Unexpected Happens
It has been almost two months since my last post, and today I am asking myself … How did that happen? April arrived, and I went with it, full speed ahead as usual, prepping the garden, watching it come alive, and enjoying the rituals of the new season. I started working on a new program I wanted to launch, and everything was moving along nicely. Then, something happened that stopped me in my tracks. Beginning of April, our 17-year-old cat’s health took a turn for the worse. After a visit to the vet, we had to accept the inevitable, and on April 24, we said goodbye to our sweet girl. The…
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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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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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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…
