“HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL”

I couldn’t wait for spring this year. Not because Covid was gone – because clearly it isn’t. Apparently, we’re just living with it now. But this spring, with the bunches of daffodils at Trader Joe’s and the single poppy that emerged from my friend’s grassy ground cover and the tulips that are lined up like soldiers at my other friend’s front walkway - these signs of nature heal my soul. For a moment, I’m transported away from the big issues; Russia’s war on Ukraine, poverty, racism, homelessness, mental illness, global warming – the list is long. I am here in the present. I am grateful for the beautiful southern California sunshine even in the very early days of spring. I am grateful to be alive in a neighborhood with sounds of children laughing, and neighbors talking. I am grateful to HAVE a home and family that will rally in times of grief and struggle just as much as in celebration. 

Spring in basic terms, demonstrates nature’s optimism. And I’m clinging to that optimism, a path of strength, to lead me through the rest of my journey through 2022. 

Photo by Disha Sheta from Pexels