“Being an artist means ripening like a tree which . . . stands confidently in the storm of winter not afraid that summer may not come. It always comes.” –Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet

When spring arrives, all of the rivers in and around Bend where the pups and I take our walks swell in size. The pace of the current appears to speed up as well as the volume is constricted into the same water path. As the snow in the mountains begins to melt, its moisture begins to be shared with far more than just the high elevations upon which it landed during the winter months, but not until spring begins to arrive.

Contrary to what spring is often heralded to be, rather than the beginning or the first season, it is actually the announcement of being much further along in the cycle of the seasons than we realize. For the journey of personal growth, artist creation in any medium, everything that we endeavor to bring to fruition, Spring is actually the third season in the four cycle journey. And if we look closely at the gardening season, in most instances for the gardening, it too parallels this similar cycle. Let me explain.

Just as a seemingly out-of-nowhere star appears on the big screen or a new fan-favorite television series, spring doesn’t just magically appear. The bulbs don’t just give us their daffodils and tulips immediately upon putting them into the ground, and neither does the talent of the actor who catches the critics’ approval. There is far more work, effort and time that has preceded the beauty that spring shares . . . it has just been happening ‘behind-the-scenes’.

Spring gifts us with beauty, with ahas, and with opportunities once we have put forth the clarity of focus and intention toward a particular outcome many months (and sometimes years) ago. It doesn’t mean that particular outcome will occur exactly as we imagined, just as we don’t know how quickly the snow will melt, but there won’t be any snow to melt if winter doesn’t bring with it precipitation. In other words, the bulbs we plant in autumn are the only way to give ourselves a promising chance that daffodils, tulips and any other myriad of bulbous flowers will bloom come spring. Sometimes, they might rot if we didn’t plant in them in the right conditions. Sometimes, a different color will appear than we had thought we ordered, but nothing will bloom if nothing is planted long before spring on the calendar arrives.

So long as we put in the intention, the effort and are willing to be patient while consistently working behind the scenes, doing the preparation that is necessary, when spring eventually arrives, that is the time that we have the first chance to experience the rewards of our efforts.

Much like trying on the dress or a piece of bespoke clothing for the first time at the tailor’s, most of the fitting components may work well, but there will be adjustments that need to be made for polish and precision for it to fit just right. However, we can only know where those adjustments are needed by putting on the clothes and giving it its trial run.

Spring is the ‘giving it a try’ phase. It is our ‘taking it for a spin’. It is visiting the country you are considering living in when you retire, but for now, just staying for a month to see how it goes, having done years of preparation and gathering up of knowledge necessary. It’s developing the app quietly in your office and now presenting it in its beta phase for users to try.

But before we can arrive at any of these instances of trying something out, we have to have the clarity, do our homework, learn the skills, and endure frustrating moments in order to have the opportunity Spring gives us.

Once we begin to get our balance and see how things are working or what needs more attention, time or tweaking, by the time summer arrives, we can fully celebrate.

While we may hear the phrase that spring is a ‘fresh start’ or a ‘new beginning’. Really, it is the release of stored up energy and effort and resting that has been taking place during winter after being put into place with intention in autumn. So is it any wonder that come spring, the rivers rush and surge? No wonder the lambs frolic with endless energy, and we too should not temper our enthusiasm because spring’s arrival is an exciting time to see, to discover and to learn how accurate we were about how to reach our goal or bring our intention into fruition. Once we see what works and also what still needs to be learned, we are far closer to fully realizing our dream.

Your personal ‘spring’ need not align with the calendar’s designation of spring, but when we deepen our appreciation of all that goes on behind the scenes during Mother Nature’s autumn and winter to bring the beauty in spring forth for us to savor as we go on our walks, partake in spring-time celebrations with cherry blossoms, pear blossoms, all sorts of blossoms, under grown with yellow daffodils, brilliantly bright tulips and favorite springtime flowers, we are reminded that so long as we too are willing to put in the effort, amazing works of art in our own life can be realized.

As Rilke reminds above in the quote, it is our intention that brings us a quiet confidence of calm, that even though we must endure winter, spring and then eventually summer, will arrive. But first, we must plant the tree in autumn.

You may be saying, but I am not an artist. Ah, but you are. We all are. As Jack Kornfield shares in No Time Like the Present, “Everyone is an artist . . . it is in your DNA to create . . . Imagination is creativity’s first step.” (emphasis is his) Your life is a work of art. “The canvas is your life.” How do you want to live? It all begins with autumn intentions and efforts, and eventually spring’s beauty will arrive.

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