On spring, gardens and dinosaurs
It's official, Spring is here. It is common knowledge that this much loved season represents renewal, blossoming, change and transformation - true on so many levels. I love the symbolism as much as I rejoice to see days getting longer, skies clearer, and lil flowers popping their heads into this new wide world. As a Mediterranean and a metereopathic, fresh sunny days to me equal happiness. And yet, these weeks I've spent mostly behind closed doors. All the messages I was receiving from my mind, my body, and my soul spoke about retreat. I listened, and retreat I did. I often make it a point to introduce myself as a coach & fellow traveller, a work in progress; I make that explicit because it is a message I personally find important. Some might think a life coach has all the answers, or has life all figured out. Reality for me is, while I have skills and knowledge and resources on my back, I keep finding new questions and off I go on my little journeys of exploration. Some have felt like genteel strolls in leafy gardens; others more like a full blown Jurassic Park experience with huge T-Rexes and fierce velociraptors.
The good news is I have not only come out alive but also learnt a whole bunch of stuff in the process. The multitude shades of petals. The smell of a plant. A fruit slowly ripening. Observing, tuning in to slow, gentle sensory experiences.
And the Jurassic Park ones? A whole different level of vibration. I've learnt that I can run fast and that I can find ingenious ways to camouflage; but also that at some point I will find myself face to face with the bloody dinosaur. And you know what? It can feel daunting and you might feel small and powerless in comparison. But by being so close, you get to see it for all it is. You notice its movements; what triggers it and what soothes it. You also focus in on your physical and emotional reactions; you pay heed to an intuitive, intrinsic instinct of survival. You learn to trust yourself in the midst of a jungle. And now you know the dinosaur better, you slowly find it less scary. You work your way out.
In the course of time, in my own self development adventure, I have visited both parks, and so I continue to do. I might go to one more often than the other, sometimes go to both in the same week; then maybe walk along for a bit, soaking up the breeze, before deciding to take another visit. The last few weeks, I've spent with dinosaurs. It was a choice, and I walked through the gates knowing fully well it would be scary, it would be tough; but I also knew I had my backpack, and this time too, I'd come out knowing the dinosaur better, and less afraid of it.
What on earth does this have to do with spring and the picture of an alley, you'll wonder? Well, it's my way of saying to you, and to myself: change is constant; working on ourselves is brilliantly exciting, but also takes courage. Open that door.
Take the journey at your pace. Gather resources. Be brave, but also be gentle. And if you're tired from walking, or from all the T-Rex facing, grant yourself rest. Take time to recoup. If you need to, retreat and just be. Or go out and dance like nobody's watching, shout out to the sky.
You went, you faced. Maybe you conquered, or maybe you'll pay another visit sometime. With firmer steps you'll walk a way you've come to know better. Keep going, you're getting there.
