Spring has Sprung!

By now, it is (mostly) clear that Spring is finally starting to come to the Midwest.  If we were following the cycle of our farming forebears, it would be time, soon, to sow the seeds of the plants that would give us food and clothing for the following year. 

On that note, how have you used all this time we have had cooped up inside our warm houses to prepare?  Fear not, there is still time!  If you want to harvest oats later on, you probably will need to plant them soon.  If you want to see great flowers, you need to plant them and nurture them and help them get to the point where they will bloom.

And of course I am using this as a metaphor for whatever you are planting, growing, nurturing, giving your time and energy and perhaps money to support.  What are you growing or building?  How will it help others as well as to sustain just you?

What “hot-house” items have you forced into growth during the winter so you  so that you can stick those suckers in the ground, hedging your bets to help them survive and thrive instead of just planting seeds? 

What do you hope to cultivate, to harvest later in the Summer or in the Fall as your plans and work come to fruition?  We may live in a digital world, but we are all planting things, all of the time, and hoping that they grow.  Is the soil prepared and fertile?  Is the seed or planting sound?  What we tend and we feed, grows, whether positive or negative, whether actual plant, idea, habit, relationship, etc.    What will bring you and yours joy and delight?  What will feed you, on various levels?  What miracle of growth and life do you want to manifest?

It reminds me of the Native American parable that one can find one memes floating around the digital sphere: everyone has a good wolf and a bad wolf inside of them.  The question is, which one will you feed, the wolf that represents the “lesser angels” of your nature, or the one that stands for the good ones?  A good question to ponder as you bring new things into the world.  Of course, someone has suggested that the doctor-recommended number of wolves inside you is zero, that if you have any wolves inside you, they should be removed.  When the metaphor becomes a cliché, then maybe it needs to rest for a while.

On the other hand, Carl Jung would suggest that the two halves of our nature absolutely need to be expressed.  The good wolf can’t do it alone and maybe isn't as “good” as we thought.  The shadow wolf maybe isn't so bad and could use some direction from the good one to get back on the path.  Together, they make up who we really are, the one who “gets the things done” and can also just delight in the moment as it is.

Springtime is a good time to think about these things, when there is still time to plan, to adjust, to create a garden, or wolf-pack that represents who you really are and what you wish to bring into the world.  May your endeavors grow with the rain and sun and warming temperatures!  May it all be for the good!

                                                   -30-