Credit: Michelle Quillin
Do the changing seasons affect your moods, and by proxy, your productivity and creativity? If you live in an area of the world where winter means months of early darkness, cold nights, and endless bouts of ice and snow, you know all about the winter doldrums. You may even suffer from depression directly tied to the seasons.
I was raised in the deep south, where the seasons are marked not by changing weather, but by major holidays and celebrations. Christmas and New Year’s Eve come in the winter, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter signal spring, the Fourth of July is a summer celebration, and Halloween and Thanksgiving mark autumn. But while holidays and celebrations are a great source of joy for most of us, they’re a harbinger of deep sadness for others, a reminder of loss, or of what’s missing from their lives. Now, tie those winter holidays to a dreary New England winter, and you’ve got a recipe for a real darkness of spirit.
My junior year of high school, my family moved from Georgia to Rhode Island, where I first discovered seasons marked not by holidays and celebrations, but by seagulls and sailboats in summer, vibrant palettes of gold, red, and orange leaves in the fall, and blankets of deep snow, ice skating, and sledding in the winter.
For many, though, winter isn’t a time for fun, or for the joy of playing outdoors in the long-awaited snow. Instead, winter brings a shutting down, a closing in, and a sleepy, dark hibernation of the soul. And like the trials and hardships that come into every life, winter seems to go on and on, for far too long. The clouds hang heavy and low…
But then, enter spring! Glorious spring! Harbinger of life!
With spring comes the first signs of new birth budding on the barren, storm-battered trees, and sprouting from the still-cold ground, covered in dead debris left there from the previous fall.
Spring in New England brings with it the sights, sounds, and smells of new beginnings. A promise of the veil lifting. A sense of renewal, of opportunity, of change. Change that heralds good.
Resurrection.
A New England spring reminds us that no matter how long or dark a season of life may be, there is always hope. Because just as spring follows winter, after darkness comes light.
Things always get better.
Always.
And hope? It springs eternal.
Credit: Michelle Quillin
What does spring mean for you?
About The Author
Michelle Quillin is chief connectivity officer of New England Multimedia and writes a blog at New England Multimedia. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook as one of the best around for engagement strategies and search engine optimization.
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