Ok, first off, a disclaimer. This is not a DIY post, and if you are a fair weather gardener, maybe you will pass by this post and onto the projects. Fair enough. For those of you who consider yourself gardeners, in a nature loving, plant collecting, soulful kinda way…you might stick around long enough to get to the end. Or not. Guess we’ll see!

Spring stirs the gardener in me, and makes me feel something I don’t always remember to take note of at other times of the year. I’m working on that. But spring reminds me why I love gardening. It makes me feel closer to the natural world, closer to what is important in my character, and closer to my spirituality. So here are 5 reasons I love spring. (In the garden!)

1. Spring is all about renewal, and renewal is one of the most important lessons a garden teaches. No matter what the weather brings, no matter the insect infestations, the losses and disappointments in our garden, spring always brings new life, and new hope. It reminds us that no matter what happens in our lives, the basic laws of nature tell us that if you hang in there, if you have faith, it will all start again, with new opportunities.

2. Spring in the garden is the most beautiful art that ever graced this earth. If you take the time to really and truly look at the miracles of nature, you can understand that creation provided us with true and utter beauty, just for beauties sake. That, to me, is amazing.

3. Spring touches all of our senses, and reawakens us. Let’s face it, we all get a little stuck and sleepy in our lives at some times. How many of you have felt a fresh spring breeze on your face, or caught a scent of lilacs in the air, and just had that feeling of heaviness fade away? Did you notice for the first time, how long it had been since you felt that way? Spring reminds us to stop and breathe.

4. Spring reminds us how important taking care of ourselves is, it seems to radiate pure health. Doesn’t the idea of “getting some exercise” always crop up in spring, or planting fresh vegetables? How many mothers feel the instinct to push the kids outdoors into the sunshine, (that we all still need) on that first warm day?

5. Spring feeds my soul. I could try to explain that, but if you’ve read this far, you know what I mean. Walk out into your garden on a warm spring day, and I challenge you to take a minute and just really “feel” it. Not in some new agey kind of way, but just to feel all the emotions that you were meant to feel when the first garden was planted on this earth. There is a reason we began in a garden.

Thank you for sticking it out to the end, and please comment and share your feelings about spring in the garden!

-Kathy