My favorite season is spring. Having grown up in Southern California, I didn’t really grow up with the season.  For a few months in the winter, it rains a little bit more and the heat in the summer is dry, but manageable. In fact, I love the sun. But no matter what each season brings, my absolute favorite season will always be spring.

Every spring, I look forward to the singing of the birds as they return to nest. I walk around my house and start to see the buds of the perennials as they reach for the sun. I try to remember what is planted where and wonder what didn’t make it through the harsh, cold winter.

But no matter what comes back up, I get excited.  Like seeing old friends. Because I have a variety of plants and flowers planted, each one has its own reason for growing where I planted it. On the west side of my house, I have a large lilac tree that blooms every year and sends it aromatic fragrance through the windows in my office.  The clematis on that side of the house has the perfect of purple blooms and I just wish they would last a little longer.

Making my way to the north side of the house, I find the Daffodils, the Bleeding Heart, the largest Hosta ever, and then on the east side, I have my Hibiscus, my cone flowers, and the lilies.

A month from now, I will plant my vegetable garden.

There is always something special I find in digging in the earth, planting something that is nothing more than a shell around something that knows nothing more than to grow.

But wrapped in every shell, is something we all seek…a new life.

A new beginning.

Most of us look for beginning at the start of a new year. There is a lot of hype and attention brought to the end of one year and the beginning of another.

To me, it is just another day. For the most part, you can’t really “see” the difference between December 31st and January 1st. They kind of just bleed into one another, with no real definition.

But spring isn’t like that.

You see things that once lay dormant, even dead-like, awaken.

That includes you.

This time of year always reminds me of my own awakening six years ago.

It was something I never saw coming, changed me for good, and left an impression on me that can never be erased.

Our intense need to grow is heightened by this quest for curiosity and excitement is just around every corner. Some of my favorite thoughts come early in the morning, even before the sun has risen. 

But we don’t need spring to begin anything new. We can begin any time.  The birth of new flowers doesn’t need to happen in order for you to see life a little differently.

With the rise of the sun and the journey that yet is still to be written, you can choose what to start. You can decide where you go next.

So although, I will always believe that any one of us can begin any day, I will always believe that the best new things happen in the spring.

Michelle A. Homme 2016 ©