spring time magic

Hi friends,

Spring is here, and I’m feeling bolstered by its potential. I love winter: the hibernation, the cocooning, the endless cold weather that requires sick winter coats and wearing heat tech under jeans so you don’t get frostbite. I love what I’ve learned over the years about slowing down in winter — to be still, to be quiet. It feels radical to attempt to do that in a world that never stops, in this age of high productivity and information consumption. Though the truth is, slowing down may not be possible for many of us: for me, this winter felt busier than I would have liked. I did manage to spend many a night in the privacy of my own thoughts, dreaming up new ways of being as I move into the lighter, brighter period of the year. Now that it’s over, I’m reminded that next winter, I should appreciate the long nights in quiet contemplation. There are riches to be gained in the darkness.

It’s so easy not to believe in magic. It’s so easy to be a materialist. It’s the accepted wisdom of our time. It seems like the simpler choice in many ways. But when I look around of a March evening and notice that it’s still light out, despite being so dark only weeks ago, I think — How could anyone not believe in magic? When I hear the birds singing, after lying dormant for so long, chirping away at each other and going about their day, I think — How could I not find wonder in the natural world? When the first blossoms, which I just noticed this morning on the tree in my back garden, burst into being, I think — Magic must be real. There is so much beauty in the world when I choose to look at it. The problem is remembering to focus on it. In the same way we so easily forget how majestic and perfectly formed we already are as humans, we forget to focus on the good. In the same way we forget our inherent worth, we too forget the unbelievable magic trick nature does through each season.

The trouble is, there’s so much pain, too. And that’s when I think it’s most important (for me at least) to look around and choose the beauty. Can I let the heartbreak I so often feel be guided by the beauty? I won’t look away at the world's suffering; I will continuously attempt to avoid a spiritual bypass of the treacheries of our time. But I won’t be so bogged down with sadness that I can’t remember that there is real magic in our world. It’s here for the taking, and I will revel in it until the end of time.

Not much more to offer than that this week.

Nora x