Nothing makes me feel more alive than sixty degree weather, the smell of fresh cut grass, the sound of birds chirping, and the clichéd feeling of sun on my skin. This is spring, the time of year when all of our senses reignite and we desire to be one with the world again. I can’t keep myself, or the animals, in the house right now. We are all feverishly racing towards the feeling of aliveness that greets us when we step outside. The spell of winter has been broken, and it feels like the perfect time to water all those metaphorical seeds I planted back in January. The renewed energy I feel this spring has me questioning if the spring equinox is the true start of the new year?
While January 1 may mark the start of the new year on the Gregorian calendar, our ancestors actually celebrated the new year in the spring. A Teen Vogue article by Lisa Stardust, titled “Spring Equinox 2024: Energy Healers on How to Recharge For the Astrological New Year,” explains this in further detail stating:
Urging on the new beginning vibes, it helps that the spring equinox coincides with the Astrological New Year. Prior to 1752, the New Year was celebrated on March 25 in England and America. The switch to celebrating on January 1 was made to align with the Gregorian calendar. The spring equinox, which coincides with the beginning of Aries Season, is often celebrated and is referred to as the Astrological New Year and International Astrology Day. Being that action planet Mars governs the zodiac sign Aries, this time is known to set off the astrological year with a bang because it brings a lot of energy, desire, and passion to our hopes and intentions.1
Even if you aren’t an astrology buff, I’m sure you can agree that this time of year feels like a grand reset.
Being back home in Tennessee, I’ve really gotten to be in tune with the seasons this year. I feel lucky that, for the first time in years, I get to spend spring outside of a major city, in a more rural area. This has allowed me to get a lot of quality time outdoors - walking, hiking, biking, and working outside in the sun. Everyday I work to be observant of the life exploding all around me. I watch the bees pollinate, I take account of the flowers blooming around the neighborhood, I observe our animals playing outside in the sun.
Nature rests in the winter and works in the spring, and we as humans are as much a part of nature as a tree or a blade of grass.
This witnessing of when new life really begins, has affirmed to me that spring is indeed the real new year. Next year I’ll be doing my vision boarding and planning for the year right before the spring equinox. I invite you all to do the same, with the wisdom that this change from planning for new life in January, to doing so around the spring equinox, will put us into better alignment with the natural world.
I previously wrote about not feeling motivated at the beginning of the year, and I think a lot of that feeling was just in alignment with the season. Of course I wasn’t motivated in January, in the dead of winter. Nature rests in the winter and works in the spring, and we as humans are as much a part of nature as a tree or a blade of grass.
Now, as I luxuriate in the first days of spring, I have found myself motivated to start acting on the goals I set back in January. I’ve also taken time to re-evaluate my habits and take steps to remedy the bad ones. This is a great time to re-center and hone in on any intentions for the year; I also believe that this is the time for manifestations to unfold. This is when the magic happens. Release any habits or thought patterns no longer serving you. Deep clean your home. Start that new exercise regimen you’ve been thinking about. Spend more time outside communing with nature. Reset and set yourself up for the year you want to see materialize.
We have to pay attention to what we feel like doing. This year was the first time in a while that I allowed myself to rest when I felt like resting, and that was during winter when all of nature was taking a break to recuperate. Now that spring is here, we begin again. We bloom like the flowers sprinkled all over my mother’s backyard.
Stardust, L. (2024, March 19). Spring equinox 2024: energy healers on how to recharge for the astrological new year. Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 26, 2024, from https://www.teenvogue.com/story/spring-equinox-2024-energy-healers-on-how-to-recharge-for-the-astrological-new-year#:~:text=So%2C%20go%20out%20for%20a,with%20affirming%20and%20supportive%20statements.
Loved this line 🖤
“Nature rests in the winter and works in the spring, and we as humans are as much a part of nature as a tree or a blade of grass.”