From the editor...
Spring!
If you ask most people to share their definition of spring, in almost every case it would relate to the first season of the year. It is true that it is a time of awakening when new life comes into existence.
Being an avid gardener however, I would differ somewhat from that definition. Every gardener knows that spring is the time when those things that have been lying dormant suddenly emerge from their sleep. For it is usually in the last phase of winter that you will find a gardener planning and waiting in anticipation for what the spring will bring. They instinctively know that in order for things to flourish, there must be a time of dormancy or rest where the important elements for living come together for the bursting of life that lies ahead.
Over the past several years, many of us, not by choice, but by circumstance, have had to keep our talents and energies in a state of dormancy while the stormy cycle of winter or tough times bore down and ravaged the very foundation on which we stood. What winter will teach you, however is, whatever manages to survive through such a period will in fact be better for having gone through it.
We cannot control much of what life throws at us, but we can control how we manage it when it comes.
On a personal note, as I am penning this column I am on the last leg of amazing journey, returning from a place that reminded me of all that God has instilled in this one human being. Over the past several years there have been many moments when life has not been kind, but just being here in this place has helped me to refocus and dust off what has been lying dormant inside me all along. The good news is, I have not had to invest in anything new, but rather to wake up those things that have been patiently waiting for that glimmer of light in order to emerge into what I think will be an amazing future.What I have learned is that coming through the winters of life leaves you with a true sense that not only did you have what you needed to survive, but it reminds you that a journey unless shared is nothing more than a wasted trip.
I visited the countryside of many tiny villages in Southern France over the past nine days, where people have managed to hold on to what I define as good and amazing living. I was able to once again experience their love of very good and simple foods, potagers (kitchen gardens) and what it means to be in touch with the beauty and the blessings that are ours each and every day. I was also able to be reminded that the reason I love this part of the world so much is not because it is foreign, but because it is so familiar. It is my goal to bit by bit help you to intertwine the new and exciting world in which we now live with the simplicity and treasures of our not too distant past. I invite you to explore with me and remember that a life that is not nurtured and savored is indeed a life that is not lived. Won’t you join me as we recapture the dormant, amazing style of living that is ours, if we only take the time to receive it? Come on, I dare you!
It is your spring time — welcome your new life!
Deigratia,
Bonnie
