Springtime of the soul...

Something that I've noticed lately is how closely my inner life mirrors the weather. God is so present in nature that I don't think that I can help but be changed by the changes occurring out of doors. An internal shift coincides with a seasonal shift. As I wrote in a post a while back, wintertime for me is a time for contemplation. With the rising temperatures and melting snow last week I noticed that I was slipping into my internal springtime reality or way of being. When I met with my spiritual director last week I mentioned this to her and she asked, but what if it snows or gets cold again? How will that affect your inner being? So long as it doesn't snow 2' or go down to -20 it is spring in my world, I replied.

So what does this internal shift from winter to spring look like? I've never really paid as much attention to this aspect of my soul as I am this year so I have been thinking back to the forms it has taken in the past. Some common themes are celebration and creativity. A few words that I have been contemplating over the last few weeks are mystery, creativity, restlessness, honesty, and witness. My spiritual director asked me if I often have words come to me like this and when I think back on it, usually the words come to me following an insight or major shift, not before. I'm not sure where God is leading me exactly. I continue this period of waiting, which I think to some extent lasts a lifetime, but I anticipate new discoveries in this season of spring.