Paradokya, the Essence of Spring

Blog Author: Karen Kendig

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."

Audrey Hepburn

We officially welcomed Spring on March 20, 2022, when the sun stepped over the equator

headed north. As the days progressively get longer and hopefully warmer what will you do with your time? If you are in the midst of transitioning your circadian rhythms, mood shifts, and physical activities from Winter or your mind is processing an internal transition from the barren, inertia, and cold burrowing of wintering, what steps will you take to be fully present in the creation process that is Spring?

The season is known for tilling the earth, planting, and cleaning up the upheaval of fall and the lifelessness of winter. Inside, we dust away the cobwebs, open the windows, and do some spring cleaning. The third step in the reinventuring process is Spring/Creation. As eggs hatch, plants push their shoots through the ground, and trees begin to bud, metamorphosing women must do the same. Creation is the time to take the ideas you pondered and maybe perseverated on in the winter and move them into action.

All Fools Day on April 1 exemplifies the emotions we feel during this time in our lives. The Fool in the Tarot deck symbolizes child-like abandonment and innocence. She stands on the edge of a precipice ready to take the leap into the great unknown—eager and cautious in the same breath. With our inner-child-like fool by our side spring brings forth our intuitive urges for boundless energy, spontaneity, endless possibilities, and new beginnings. And with that momentum behind us, we must let go of the confusion, depression, and inability to act we felt while wintering and take up the call to action that spring demands.

We cannot live in winter forever, or at least we would rather not, so now is the time to make plans, consider our strengths, focus on what has been given, and create a new life of our own making. A good place to start is an exercise called the Cookie Jar Method. Find a jar you like enough to keep in plain sight. Cut strips of paper and write on each strip all of your accomplishments and all the losses you have lived through. Take inventory of what an amazingly strong woman you are and become empowered by your ability to persevere, survive, and thrive. Whenever you start questioning your abilities or undermining your self-esteem, pull one or more of those strips of paper out of the jar and remind yourself of the amazing powers that are under your control. There is not a lot we have control over in this life so we must capitalize on that which we can control—our reactions to the events, people, emotions, and feelings we experience every day.

We can take inventory of our strengths, from the skill of darning socks, to the ability to manage a multi-million dollar business and everything in between. Some skills to consider are social, communication, organizational, athletic, problem solving, technological, cooking, you name it! Use that list to kick start a new career or hobby. Take inventory of your finances. Learn about your beliefs about money and how those affect your willingness to invest, budget, accumulate, give, and spend money.

Make an action plan for growing the seeds of your new life into fruition. Commit to taking baby steps each day towards your goal. Be patient. Persevere. Always being intentional about your actions that they support movement toward your higher self.

Like the disciples waiting at the tomb for Jesus to appear, let your heart and mind be filled with paradokya (Turkish for paradox)—eager anticipation in the aftermath of loss. Believe in tomorrow. Keep your heart light and your mind open to the possibilities the innocent fool has to offer and listen to her voice among the songs of the birds and the gentle whisperings of the wind, “Leap, reinventuring spirit, and the net will appear.”

Daily Meditation

Use this meditation this week to help you open yourself to the changes around and within you.

I move forward with ease, flexibility, grace, faith, hope, and eager anticipation.