From The Innkeepers

March 2021 Blog

Let the Change Begin

As we turn the calendar to March the realization struck me that it has now been a whole year since we became aware of the presence of Covid 19.   In March of 2020, its momentum was picking up speed and morphing it into the critical mass of a pandemic.  We had no earthly idea then that our lives would be turned upside down and come to grinding halt.  A year ago, in our naivete’, we stood on the cusp of winter turning to spring, not knowing that soon we would acquire a whole new vocabulary to discuss our current situation: community spread, social distance, the importance of wearing a mask, lack of PPE, lockdowns, and a rapidly mounting death toll.  Over two and half million global deaths later, of which well over a half a million belong to us in the United States, here we are, inching a path down the road of hope as more and more people are able to be vaccinated. As the snow cover melts away a little more each day, so does some of the anxiety about our being able to be with each other.  I don’t know about you, but I am eagerly awaiting the day when travel is not a cause of fear, and I will be able to hug members of my family who live far away, that I haven’t seen in over a year.  So too with our retreat guests at the Inn.  It has been a whole cycle of the sun since we last laid eyes on you and were able to greet you with a hug and welcome you home to the Inn.   

By the time the Spring Equinox arrives on March 21, with its significantly noticeable increases in the amount of sunlight each day, it is incumbent upon us to draw the light into ourselves.  Just as the light permeates the earth, thawing the frozen soil, and making way for the eventual verdant spring, so too it is within our hearts.  What aspects of your soul have laid dormant in the winter darkness and cold, that now pierce through because the shadows reside behind you rather than in front of you?  I have this meditation where in my mind I pretend to be a tulip, or a hyacinth, or a daffodil.  Preserving the core of me is the bulb, that retreats for the winter season, with its stores of energy enabling it to survive.  But alas with the onset of spring this month, it is time to turn those stored reserves into something more palpable, more visible.  First come leaves piercing through and photosynthesizing their way to growth.  Next comes the blooms splashing the landscaped abundantly with color.  So too my soul springs open at the wonder of it all.  First there are the little reactions that are not so little because they make up a whole life eventually.  Then the larger energies of kindness, generosity, inspiration, and creativity, all unfolding into the acceptance of what life brings in the present moment.  The upheaval of winter is changing with the added warmth of each passing day and liberates the body and soul into a new sense of aliveness.  We welcome the changes of spring, and we can appreciate them more fully because they stand in juxtaposition to the harshness and bitterness of the winter that is slowly leaving us.  Let your spirit unfold and welcome the new season with gratitude.

May the blessing of spring light open your soul,

Marcia