by DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Development Manager
“Spring,” that mythic season of thaw and bloom, arrives this weekend. Boston has yet to be convinced. It’s 26 degrees outside as I write this, with the same three feet of snow on the ground as have been there since January. Last week it was sunny and got up to 45 and it really seemed like we had turned a corner. By the weekend, it was snowing.
I may have had a quiet little breakdown.
After a long, harsh winter, I feel like we’re all in desperate need of a spiritual, mental, and emotional jumpstart. We’re ready for a change. So it’s time to stop waiting for our messianic age of spring to come upon us — it’s time to create our own spring. Forget these so-called “Arctic temperatures” and “wind chill” and “ice dams.” The weather may still be freezing, and even if you’re lucky enough to live in a more temperate climate (stop gloating), I invite you to join me in my Spring Yourself Forward (TM) program: I’ve decided to give up on spring coming and to be proactive. So what if it’s still freezing outside? Let’s make our own spring happen! Just follow these easy steps and you’ll be living your own spring in no time:
1) Make a Spring Reminder: Start the Spring Yourself Forward process by personally welcoming in spring in your home. Buy a plant, paint a picture, write a poem — create a representation of the spring you want to see, and put it where you’ll see it every day.
2) Clean Something: Yeah, I know. Boring. But necessary! It will feel so good to clean out that old closet or drawer, to straighten up that spare bedroom or office. Get rid of the clutter, spray some Febreze, and give your surroundings a fresh start.
3) Get Rid of Stuff: Go through your house and make a Goodwill and/or trash bag of everything you don’t need. If you haven’t worn it or used it all winter, it’s gone. Face it, you’re never going to go through that stack of old magazines or put together all of the puzzle pieces your toddler scattered through the house. Get ’em out!
4) Move Your Body: Go to the gym, take a class, do yoga, dance around the house to Spotify, it doesn’t matter. Energize yourself out of hibernation.
5) Dress for the Sun You Want: I’m not saying to go outside in a sundress and flip-flops, but start wearing more bright colors, even a sun hat.
6) Immerse in a Mikveh: Welcome in spring spiritually by marking the transition to a new season, one of budding life, freedom, and creation. If you like, use Mayyim Hayyim’s Preparation for Passover Immersion Ceremony, which emphasizes springtime renewal.
If you will it, it is no dream
Maybe if enough of us spring ourselves forward, we can collectively will *actual* spring to happen. But no more waiting around. Who’s with me?
DeDe Jacobs-Komisar is the Development Manager at Mayyim Hayyim and the inventor of the Spring Yourself Forward Program (patent pending, all rights reserved).