Write to Empower with Mari Selby Archives - Springing Forward

Springing Forward

Anais Nin: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Spring is here and it's time for fresh starts! Has your spirit felt stifled and cramped this winter? Or have you gone to your own underworld and recovered more of your soul? Persephone (from the Homeric Myth) was daughter to Demeter. Persephone was stolen away from Demeter and then married to Pluto. The beginning of Spring heralds Persephone’s return to the upper world from the underworld. In the myth, Demeter agrees with the Gods, in exchange for the return of her daughter, Persephone must return to the underworld to be with her husband, Pluto, for 3 months of the year. During those 3 months, the land lies fallow. Nothing grows. All of the activity lies in the unconscious - below the level of consciousness. This winter have you been huddling in your chrysalis? Are you ready to shed your cocoon and become the butterfly?

Great stories help us understand the patterns of renewal and to discern how they can illumine, prime, delight and renew our own life stories. The theme of the Persephone myth speaks to the archetypal journey of sacrifice, death and rebirth. As we come into spring we are called to sacrifice something – an old attitude, outmoded belief, a way of seeing ourselves in the world. The word sacrifice comes from Middle English and means to make sacred. Accepting and honoring our sacred selves is part of our evolution as women. Perhaps the biggest sacrifice we can make as women is a habit, or belief, that we need to make ourselves small in stature, in appearance and actions. The world needs us to be fully ourselves to lead the changes ahead. And on a more mundane note, our gardens, and nature are calling.

My sacrifice this spring is letting go of the limiting thought form; “I can’t”. For me “I can’t” comes in many forms - from “I can’t” do that much exercise, to “I can’t” work that hard, to “I can’t” be happy unless “X” happens. A definition of the word can’t is, “to speak in the whining or singsong tone of a beggar; beg”. Whenever I say "I can't" I feel myself shrinking, and becoming something ugly and hard. “I can’t” implies that I have no choice, when the truth is that I have no willingness, or sincerity. For me, I have to be brave to say, “I do not choose to do something”, instead of creating an excuse or saying “I can’t”. I can choose to be happy no matter what, instead of waiting until “X” happens. I am making these choices more automatic, re-focusing my attention on what I can do rather than basking in old behaviors.

This week’s exercise has 3 parts. The first part is to honor the Vernal Equinox as a sacred time for all us women. Create a ritual to honor this time: plant a seed, or take a walk and admire the spring flowers. Give yourself time to experience wonder in this season and yourself as an absolutely fabulous woman. The second part is to reflect on what you are prepared to let go or to give up in order for something new to come into your life? What habit or limiting thought are you ready to give up? The third part is to write down both the ritual and sacred time as well as what you are willing to let go. Og Mandino: “I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.”

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