Waiting for the Spring
We’ve had so much rain this season. I am now hearing about the “Super Bloom” in our surrounding areas where wild flowers are blooming, which I have not yet seen myself. I’m particularly waiting for the California poppies to bloom on the hills of Gorman along the Interstate-5. It was almost 30 years ago that I drove up to Kern River with a friend to go river rafting. I remember seeing the Gorman hills completely covered with golden poppies. Little did I know that I would not see such a sight again on that same hills ever since. (The picture above is from several years ago in Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve)
Fast forward to my current life, in which I am blessed to have a house in the mountains and I do drive up the I-5 past Gorman on a regular basis. While we’ve been going up there for the last 14 years, I still have not seen the Gorman hills exploding with poppies like that time 30 years ago even with some of the wet winters we had during this period. So I’m anxious to see if those hills will be a host for the “Super Bloom” this spring.
Meanwhile, the idea of those wild and non-wild flowers starting to bloom is so symbolic, right? I love the image of how the seeds patiently wait for the earth to warm up in the darkness of underground so that they can slowly open up the hard shell and start to sprout. I’ve certainly experienced the darkness in my life, in fact, the last couple years were such time among others. As I just heard someone say this past week, that was a time of “growth opportunity” where my soul waited for the light and the heart to crack open so I can grow. Mindful meditation practice has been the refuge where the darkness isn’t so scary but more like a womb. Even with uncertainty, I could rest knowing that the spring would come eventually.
I’m grateful for the spring that’s almost here and grateful for the “growth opportunities” I have in my life so I can blossom into a “Super Bloom” one day.
Incidentally, I will be teaching to substitute my beloved teacher, Diana Gould, the next two Thursdays (March 14 & 21) at the Thursday night sitting group. Come join us!
Self-Observation Without Judgment
Release the harsh and pointed inner
voice. it’s just a throwback to the past,
and holds no truth about this moment.
Let go of self-judgment, the old,
learned ways of beating yourself up
for each imagined inadequacy.
Allow the dialogue within the mind
to grow friendlier, and quiet. Shift
out of inner criticism and life
suddenly looks very different.
i can say this only because I make
the choice a hundred times a day to release the voice that refuses to
acknowledge the real me.
What’s needed here isn’t more prodding toward perfection, but
intimacy — seeing clearly, and
embracing what I see.
Love, not judgment, sows the
seeds of tranquility and change.
From “One Soul”
-Danna Faulds