Spring is a great time for transformation and new beginnings. It’s also a time for your mind to bloom. For those living in cold climates, the winter months are often spent inside, in self-protection mode, so spring is a season when you can shed all your layers. In order to facilitate transformation and new beginnings, you’ll need to let go of old, unhealthy patterns and embrace new, positive energy.
During my childhood, spring meant the blossoming of the cherry-blossom tree that sat on our front lawn. I have vivid memories of sitting on the falling blossoms and feeling the wonder of nature. It also meant shedding my winter coat, gloves, and hat, and getting on my bike and riding around the neighborhood. Spring meant freedom. It was also a time when my parents engaged in their annual spring-cleaning ritual.
In my book Writing for Bliss, I describe writing for transformation as that which can bring about a dramatic change in an individual’s physical or psychological well-being. Basically, the path of transformation is a process of becoming aware of, facing, and becoming responsible for one’s thoughts and feelings. This process can lead to self-realization, which can occur over a long or short period of time, but most often is initiated by a pivotal event that can be easily identified. It might be a part of your life story that you’re thinking about during this time.
So what will your story be this spring? What would you like to transform in your life?
Writing is an excellent way to bring some respite into your life, and it can also help you uncover your authentic voice and inspire the writer within. It’s also a way to use mindfulness and mindful writing to uncover your authentic voice. Being mindful means intentionally being present in any given moment. Rather than thinking of your past or future, being mindful is about focusing on what is happening right now. In other words, as spiritual teacher Ram Dass once said, “Be here now.”
For many people, writing is a spiritual practice that opens up a connection with the divine. It’s also a way of letting go and making sense of yourself, your loved ones, and the world in which you live. Through writing, you can cultivate self-awareness.
Here are some writing prompts to consider this spring:
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- Write about the part of you that feels most alive and joyous right now. Use all your senses to get in touch with what you feel, see, hear, smell, and touch. If you’re not feeling particularly joyous, then write about a time when you were feeling happy, and think about how you can bring that energy back into your life.
- For many people, spring brings with it new beginnings. Write about what this season means for you.
- Write about your best memory of springtime.
- If you had an opportunity to plant a garden this spring, what would you plant, and why?
- Compare spring and summer, and write down the similarities and differences between these two seasons.
- If you were to do a spring cleaning, what three items would you choose to part with?
- Write down how you feel about spring as a time for transformation. What is it that you’d like to change or transform in your life right now?
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Previously Published on nyspirit.com
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