Spring Equinox

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Happy Spring!  Today, the phases of day and night are in balance (almost).  I went to a refreshing yoga class on Sunday night that incorporated lots of soothing moon salutations and projecting the heart skyward to welcome the equinox.  Spring is a time for rebirth and fresh starts.  The first few months of 2018 were hectic and challenging for me with professional commitments, conflict resolution, home responsibilities, parenting a vibrant and busy toddler, making plans and filling in the calendar for the year, and trying to juggle it all.  During this season, I am shifting gears.  I'm on a journey of happiness, gratitude, joy and self-actualization.

 I'm about halfway into my training program for my upcoming Half Marathon, so I'm starting to ramp up my mileage.  The other day on my sunny morning run, I was reflecting on the concept of beauty.  Why is it that many people find the same images - sunsets, mountains, rivers, landscapes, flowers, animals - to be beautiful?  Is beauty something rational, based on evolution and a recognition of land that shows potential for life?  Or is beauty something we feel but can't explain in words?  Do we find unique scenes and unexpected events beautiful?  Or is the beauty in the prosperity or protection that a landscape can provide?  And when the first people arrived in New Mexico, did they experience some of the same landscape views and feelings that we experience now?  What did they find beautiful?  Beauty is something that connects people from different places and different eras.

 In cultivating beauty, one of my priorities this spring is to work on my yard and garden.  I have yet to be successful with gardening in New Mexico, but I'm reading up on native plants and gardening strategies in our high, dry climate, and I'm optimistic that I can create some beauty in my yard.  This spring I also want to spend more time at home with my family.  We get so busy with vacations and commitments, but I want to enjoy my house and my yard, and hopefully get some flowers to grow!

I have read some really heavy, dynamic books this year that have stuck with me.  Some of the themes have been complex, and I am so appreciative of my book club where we can sort through our responses to books and make connections to our own lives.  Here are a few of my 2018 reads (finished and in progress) thus far:
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts
Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn
Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

 As spring approaches, though, I'm shifting gears with my book choices and focusing on joy and fulfillment as I revisit some old favorites about happiness, immersion, and flow:
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Wherever You Go There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan Haidt


If you haven't read Csikszentmihalyi's book, he summarizes his ideas in his TED Talk: Flow, the Secret to Happiness

 Happy Spring, everyone!  May you all find balance and new beginnings.

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