Hope Springs Eternal

I write this on the Spring Equinox (March 20th) when we move to equal amounts of day and night and note that this is viewed as the official start of Spring in the Northern hemisphere.  It is also seen as a time of new beginnings and I recently attended a workshop on garden writing as I am keen to integrate the garden or, indeed, Nature, into my work.  We were given a short topic of “Spring Bulbs” or writing more broadly on Spring and my perspective, shaped by my lens on the world, is set out below:  

‘Staying tuned into the world and the politics of the day is difficult to sustain, at present, as there is so much negativity.  Conflict seems at the heart of so many of the top news stories.  The global picture draws no comfort either, with a climate of fake news that is de-stablilising. 

So, where do we go to get some balance and respite?

One possibility surrounds us; it is to go into Nature.  Spring is one of the most hopeful of Seasons with plants and trees waking up from Winter’s slumber and the promise of the beauty held within starting to be released.  Step into Nature and stop for a while, with no distractions, and tune back into the rhythm of the world.  There is so much beauty that has survived another Winter when all looked bleak at times.  Nature, and particularly Springtime, teaches us lessons about resilience that we can transfer into our everyday lives.  Take a humble Spring bulb. If you planted one last Autumn then it may not have looked that inspiring.  Yet, within that bulb, was the energy to transform into perhaps a golden daffodil or a jewel-like tulip.  Contained inside each of us there is great potential that is often untapped, and this is where a deeper connection with Nature can help. 

The seasons never give up and are also present within us.  We have one life, and even if we feel that we are at the late Autumn or Winter of our days, we can still start something like a project or develop an idea which starts a new ‘internal’ season – perhaps a Spring time.  This can give us hope to sustain us in the unpredictable world within which we all live’.

If you are interested in attending a workshop that uses ‘the garden as therapy’ to deepen self-awareness and promote wellbeing then please get in touch with me via my email address below.  I should point out that this is not 1:1 therapy, but rather using the garden as a metaphor for understanding ourselves.  The workshop can be tailored to meet the needs or objectives of an organisation.

Margaret Walsh is a registered member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy, a Member of the Association of Coaching and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.  She works with individuals and groups using a mixture of coaching and psychotherapy to help deepen self-awareness from which to bring about change.  She works face-to-face as well as by Skype and telephone and can be contacted on margaretwalshcoach@gmail.com