Spring is upon us. This is my favorite time of the year, when everything starts to bloom and green. Summer is great. Fall is equally great. But Spring, that’s when my corner of the world begins to wake up, dress up, and put its best foot forward.
Yards turn green. Barren trees put on leaves. Bulbs and seeds begin to sprout up from the earth with impending blooms of every color imaginable. It’s an awakening of the space around us and I am absolutely here for it.
Each of us has those moments every now and then when we begin to view things through a different lens, an awakening, of sorts. Some of us have them more than others if we aren’t stubbornly and immovably set in our ways. Personally, I value a good epiphany, a moment of clarity or realization that forces me to see something in a different light, alter a previous opinion, or learn to value a different point of view than my own.
Just like a few of the characters in my stories, there was a time I viewed much of the world around me in black and white terms. I was boxed into a certain way of thinking. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned nothing is so simple as many institutions might have us believe. I’ve become more openminded, less judgmental, more empathetic, and able to put myself in someone else’s shoes. I don’t feel the need to vocalize agreements or disagreements, nor do I need to be right all the time or prove others wrong.
In all these ways I’m still evolving, and I like that I’m able to evolve and progress toward love and acceptance rather than the alternative. So many people remain steadfast in their fear, distaste, or flat-out hate of anything other. There’s too much negativity in the world, and too many people who are comfortable being extremely vocal about it.
I think my own continuing evolution to be better and do better toward my fellow human beings is why I’ve made these concepts a theme in Ash’s story. We’re all capable of change, both positive and negative. The world is complicated. Individually, we’re complex, many-layered beings. What a disservice to our fellow humans to judge their journey through life in any way, much less a way that begets hatred or fear, discrimination or dehumanization.
Spring is upon us. The space around me is waking up, starting a new journey, creating new beauty everywhere I look. Today’s high is a lovely 77 degrees. There’s also the possibility of snow this week. And if that isn’t Mother Nature teaching us a lesson about life, I don’t know what is.
All we can do is keep trying to be better toward each other. We may run into snags here and there. None of us are perfect, but we can try to simply be kind and thoughtful and accepting, even of those we may not fully understand or agree with. My hope is that all of us at least try to weather the random snow storm and continue to add beauty to the world in spite of it.
Love and light, my friends!
L.A. Goodman
Old Souls, an Ash Bennett story, book 1
The Nothing Place, an Ash Bennett story, book 2
