Spring Transformations: Marking Time, Celebrating Possibilities

Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!'

-- Robin Williams

Each year, within a couple of weeks, we experience multiple cultural markers of change and renewal: the spring equinox, Passover, Easter, and any other number of culture-specific rituals and traditions that signal that it's time for a mental and physical refresh.  

Animals molt and shed, while we peel off our winter layers, eager for the sun's long-awaited rays. We also engage in spring cleaning, purging unwanted items from our closets -- an act of clearing away the old, to make room for something new.  But regardless of our personal beliefs and individual rituals, spring is an invitation to start over -- or, perhaps more realistically, transform into a better version of ourselves. 

From makeover shows to seasonal trends, we are a society obsessed with change. Why? And is it healthy? Isn't change just a consumer-driven, media-endorsed tactic to induce a feeling of "never good enough" and spark endless consumption? That is one way of looking at it. But it's not the complete picture.

Change -- be it big or small, internal or external -- need not be about an "absence" or a a feeling of not being "enough." Rather, it's an invitation for more; an opening to possibilities.  It's a receptivity to "What if?" and "Why not?"  And when it does manifest physically, it shifts our mental state. The physical, far from mere superficiality, not only reflects but also paves the way for our mental and emotional life to evolve. The physical becomes the reality. 

So as the flowers blossom and you tuck away your winter wool, think about what it is you're moving toward this spring. What role do you want to play -- and how will you embody it? Does your visual align with the persona you hope to project?  Transformation, like spring itself, is celebratory. So let's party.