8 Lessons Spring Taught Me

As a lifelong learner (I really can’t help it), I like to soak up everything around me and let it teach me anything it can. So, to bid adieu to spring, here are the eight lessons and reminders that spring is sent my way these last couple of months!

1. Add a little color to your life.

After a winter season of mundane and “bluh,” it was exciting to see the tulips pop up and the crabapple, dogwood, and cherry trees offer a pop of radiant color to the scene. They reminded me that it’s okay to lay dormant for a while and hide behind the scenes. And other times, it’s my moment to shine – to take the stage and show my true, beautiful colors. 

Have you ever been in a “funk”? Have you been on auto-pilot, living the day to day mundane and monotonous bore? Then break out! Mix it up! Do something different! Take on a new hobby. Redecorate the house. Dye your hair. Wear that new, edgy outfit. Go on the trip and live it up!

2. Having allergies during a pandemic is hard.

Seriously. As if pollen doesn’t wreak enough havoc in the lives of allergy sufferers, along came Covid. The last two springs, it has been very hard for allergy sufferers to explain to folks that it’s allergies making them look halfway in the grave – not Covid. Don’t believe me? Watch how quickly folks at the grocery store flee if you cough or sneeze. I’m thinking of having a t-shirt made up to wear in public that says, “It’s not the pandemic, it’s the pollen!”

3. It’s okay to hunker down for a season.

There’s a reason animals hibernate in the winter. It’s for their protection and security. There are also times when we need to do the same. I don’t mean burrow a hole and hide out for three or four months. But, there are times it’s okay (and necessary) to take a mental health day, hunker down in your blankets, and rest.

Spring reminded me to eventually get back to life, but that it’s okay to take a winter season where you rest and conserve your energies. You may need to hide out from the elements in your life that can attack your spirit, mind, body, and emotions like a cruel and frigid frost. I work with a woman who has experienced immense grief in the last couple of years. I experienced it too with the loss of my parents a few years ago. And there are times when instead of “putting on my big girl panties” and getting back at it, that it’s better for my healing process to actually sit in my grief and to feel what I feel. We may need to “hibernate” from time to time in the safety of loved ones or within ourselves, tune out the distractions, and just be still.

4. Crack a window and let life in.

When I was a little girl and spring temperatures began to roll in, my mom would open the windows in the house and cut on the fans. She circulated the old, stagnant air in the home out and welcomed in the new breeze. I always thought it was her way of making the cold and flu season germs leave our house. There’s also nothing quite like falling asleep to the sound of the spring showers falling outside your open window. And (sigh) that smell of rain. 

Have you been locked up and boarded up from others? Crack the window. Let a little life in. Welcome a new friend or a new opportunity. I mentioned earlier that there are times to hunker down and hibernate, but eventually there is a time to let the outside back in – to remember there’s life outside of whatever is happening in us and in our homes.

5. Anything can bloom in the right environment.

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you just weren’t at your best? Maybe it was a job you hated and so you didn’t give it your all. Or perhaps you have a toxic friendship you’ve been holding onto that’s making you a bitter or defensive person. If you’ve ever gone from an unhealthy relationship or environment to a healthy one, you know very well the difference you feel even in yourself. It’s like, “Oh, hey self, I’ve missed you!” 

Watch the “troublesome” child with just the right teacher’s love. He/she will shine like never before. Or the husband who feels respected or appreciated by his wife. He’ll work harder than any man you know. Or the wife who feels loved and cherished by her husband. She’ll beam with joy and the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. Sometimes what’s needed in order for us to bloom like the lilies and the daffodils is to alter our environment. Take on the right habits and surroundings and company. Then watch out world, here we grow!

6. Sometimes what’s needed to bloom is rain.

Adding onto the previous point, it’s not just warmth and sunshine that make the flowers bloom and grow. It’s the rain too.

The storms (and maybe even torrential downpours) in life may be the catalyst of change for you that leads you to your true self and path and the biggest and brightest blooms you’ve ever seen! The rain isn’t fun. It’s dreary and frustrating and an inconvenience and brings mud and flooding and frizzy hair. But, the rainy seasons of our lives shape us. They bring the nutrients we need for perseverance, grace, patience, grit, clarity, and so much more. 

Let it wash over you. Or better yet, put on your figurative (or literal – no judgement from me) rain boots, tap into your inner child, and splash your way around the puddles. Vibrant days are ahead, but you can still make the most of the mess in the meantime!

7. The winter blues are a real thing.

If your health allows it, get outside and go for a walk. Or just sit outside to eat your lunch or drink your coffee. After months indoors, it was good to get outside this spring. Seasonal depression is a real thing. Study after study shows an improvement in mood, a boost in energy, and a strengthening of the immune system in people who spend at least 15 minutes outside in the sunlight.

8. I want to be a bird.

I’m a people-watcher. I like to observe people and their nuances and the way they socially interact. But, I am also a bird watcher. Mostly because I’m jealous of them though. Outside of my bedroom window, there is a spot near my gutters where birds must love love love to build nests. Or just hang out. Because every morning this spring, I would hear them. Singing with all of their might the most beautiful melodies. And I wondered why I don’t greet each morning that way. 

My alarms go off (yes, plural, don’t judge) and I drag myself out of bed. I read the headlines and find out the next depressing news, controversy, or scandal. And I begin my day – thinking about the many tasks ahead of me. Yet, there were those birds every single morning. They have no home. They have to pick up and move with the seasons. They have to hunt for worms. They have to build their nests from whatever scraps they can find. Protect their eggs. Teach their babies to fly. Etc Etc Etc. But here they were, every morning, singing. Singing! Greeting the day. Greeting one another. Their tunes didn’t waver. 

I want to be like the birds. Ready to greet each new day and live it to the fullest. Whether it’s digging for worms or pushing some kiddos out of the nest. I want to do it with a melody in my heart.

What would you add to this list? Did spring teach you any of these same things or something totally different? Share in the comments and teach me too!

Happy Blooming!