A few years ago I was lucky enough to be in Anchorage during Spring Breakup, when the thawing of all those feet of snow brings a whiff of hope and possibility. Along with a whiff of something else: the dog poop that has accumulated during the winter sometimes permeates the spring breezes.
It’s like that, isn’t it?
There’s the fragrance of freedom as we melt old painful patterns to meet life as it is. And there’s some smelly stuff, too.
Ah, But. At the end… sweet spring air.
I’ve just returned from a challenging winter of caretaking and healing. A blizzard of personal and family challenges, with quite an accumulation.
Now I’m left with the fun of spring mop up. Grateful for the clear vision and guidance of the urgent times. But noticing little piles of poopy judgements that are left from the winter journey.
I REALLY don’t want to look at these. I stay busy. Kill time. Distract in all my favorite ways. And I notice they’re still there.
Finally I sit down. I pull out my journal, find the places I’ve been raging at reality. Inquire. Let the crappiness tell me what it will.
And, in a surprisingly short time, I see how I’ve cheated myself from sweet summer breezes.
That’s what Spring Breakup and a Breakthrough feels like here.
What’s it like for you? What do you do to avoid those thoughts that can gnaw away? What works for your mop-up? When do you catch the fragrance of possibility underneath the debris of the past?
