The Call to Bloom

Spring comes slowly to the Northeast. It struggles through days of sunshine and warmth as well as cold, snow and chilling rain. Sooner or later, though, the need to push through the soil, or burst out onto the branch, becomes so strong that nothing can hold it back any longer.

“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.”

Anais Nin

There is something that happens to us when we hear the songs of birds calling for their mates on a soft, breezy spring morning. There is hope in that breeze, and promise in that birdsong. There is a strong urge to answer an inner calling from our soul. We are being called to bloom as well.

We all get that inner urge to break out of that tight bud we have lived in for so long and spread our wings. Winter can feel as if it will last forever, and sometimes the winter of our souls feel the same way. Then one day we find that staying tight in that darkness, even if we think we are protecting ourselves from the cold, cruel world, hurts more than taking a chance in the bright light of spring. We know we must answer the call to bloom. That is when we have to trust that, just like the birds and the trees, spring will come again. We just let go, surrender to the timeless rhythms of life.

Yes, there will be ups and downs. Yes, some things will bloom perfectly and some won’t. Yes, some dreams will get off the ground and some won’t. Yet what a shame to never know all we can be. Don’t fight that call to bloom. Answer it. Who knows? You might do more than bloom. You might fly!

And so it is.