On the Cusp of Renewal

Dear Reader,

I am returning to the blog on the first day of Spring, after a lengthy break through the winter months. Here in Shetland, the wind is whipping and rain is pelting against our sitting room windows. Only a few years ago, on another first day of Spring, we were in Maine, digging  out from nearly two feet of snow.

Renewal can be unpredictable.

And that’s where I feel the world is today – teetering on the cusp of renewal. Our balance is precarious. There are tiny hints of progress, and a fragile feeling of hope, but anything can still happen. One minute record numbers of people are receiving their coronavirus vaccinations, and the next we are reading about a new variant that has popped up, calling on us to stay patient a little bit longer.

I feel like I am coming out of hibernation. A week ago today, I jumped on the bus with Louise and went into town for the first time this year. I felt like Rip Van Winkle, returning to the world after having spent twenty years asleep in the mountains. Bus fares? Cash machines?! Grocery check-out lines???

Fortunately, I readjusted quickly; my first americano of the year, from the Peerie Shop Cafe, helped.

Only a few days later, I was back on the bus to town for my first COVID vaccination, one year almost to the day after I developed mild but clear symptoms of the coronavirus.

So much has happened in the past year.

For each of us individually, and for the world collectively, we have been through a lot. We have experienced great loss, upheaval, and the crumbling of old, dysfunctional structures. As of yet, it is unclear how those structures will be replaced. We have encountered chaos, uncertainty, isolation – and yet, hopefully, we have also experienced unexpected moments of joy, insight and progress.

Because through the whole time, even when it felt like we were going nowhere, we have moved forward anyway. We may have discovered what is most important to us, or found resilience we didn’t know we had. We may have even thrived.

And now, here we are. Here you are. And here I am.

Yes, renewal is unpredictable. But it does happen. The phoenix does rise from the ashes.

Today is a perfect day to feel the potential for rebirth. Here in Shetland, we have seen a few yellow buds, an occasional daffodil, but mostly green shoots and closed buds, swelling and preparing to burst open. Lambing season is still a few weeks away. Things are growing, unseen, and it feels like the world is holding its breath.

As I continue to write, the rain has stopped. The sun is shining, for the moment. The wind continues to blow.

And so it is.

May you honor all that you have left behind in the past year, and may you let it go cleanly.

May you be present on the cusp of renewal.

And may you feel the stirring of renewal within you, in your loved ones, and in this beautiful world of ours.

I honor your loving heart,

John