Como Conservatory Dome
This winter has been very unusual here in Minnesota with strangely mild weather and very little snow. In fact, according to one weather reporter, Nashville, Tennessee has had more snow than Minneapolis so far this winter. To me
It Feels Like Spring
already and though I’m enjoying it, there is a part of me that feels strangely ill at ease. Though I almost always wish for an early spring, this is a bit earlier than I had in mind. It’s as if I’m unwilling to believe it fully or that I’m worrying about what the deeper meaning of this mild weather might be given the climate change our world is experiencing.
Usually in winter going to the Como Conservatory to wander is a wonderful respite from the winter weather. But when I went there earlier this week, though I still found it beautiful, I had none of the feelings of winter respite that I’ve come to expect this time of year. In the past in wintertime, entering the humid warm air of the conservatory felt like a wonderful tropical get-away, but not this time. It was lovely but not the winter tonic that I have come to expect.
I Worry…
about how this weather will impact the trees, plants, animals, and nature that I love. And I wonder what the next weeks, months, and years will bring. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has reported that some local residents are reporting seeing tulips sending up shoots already and that trees are also responding to the warm days we are having.
Now that I’ve admitted to myself what I am feeling and thinking I can choose what I will do with those thoughts and feelings. So I step back, apply my mindfulness techniques and work on being present, noticing, feeling, and allowing it all to be, just as it is. And I also remind myself of something that I heard Michael J. Fox say in a recent interview…
Gratitude makes optimism sustainable. If you’re grateful for the opportunities you have, for what you’ve been given to do work-wise, for the opportunities that exist, you’re optimistic.
— Michael J. Fox
More and more I am coming to believe that…
Optimism Rests on Gratitude.
And gratitude is a practice that we can all learn and use, especially now when so much seems so uncertain in our world. I’m not saying that everything happens for a purpose. But in my life, when I look back, even the events that were most difficult and challenging were a part of the person I am now. And for that reason I wouldn’t change a thing.
It was one of the great ironies of my life that only when it became virtually impossible for me to keep my body from moving would I find the peace, security, and spiritual strength to stand in one place. I couldn’t be still until I could — literally — no longer keep still.
— Michael J. Fox
What are you grateful for today, my friends? Remember, optimism, rests on gratitude.
May you walk in beauty.
Note: The photo assignment I gave my students last week was to look for lines as they photographed. So that was what I focused on at the Como Conservatory this week, though there were some other photo opportunities I couldn’t resist as well.
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