The time of spring and Easter, for those who celebrate it, is often considered a time of renewal and growth. Unless you live in a tropical climate that hardly changes, you will most likely experience this progression in the seasonal change from the cold, dark winter to the lighter, warmer days of spring. As the days are filled with more natural sunlight, birds sing their hearts out of newfound happiness, trees blossom and the grass is green again, I also become alive. It is not a coincidence that spring is my favorite season. While the results of growth are easier to notice when taking a walk through nature in the spring, human beings also benefit from the personal growth and renewal this season brings.
When I look back at many spring times of my life, I realize that I too have gone through many changes that taught me a lesson and allowed my soul to grow. This year, I have decided to let my inner artist emerge. When we think of art, paintings, music, sculptures or novels often come to mind. However, I believe that art can take many different forms. I also believe that art is the language the universe speaks to us. It is no coincidence that many people call talents God given gifts. I also believe that those gifts are individually wrapped and placed in our hearts and souls the moment we are created and come to this earth to express them.
Everyone has a reason to be here. Many people wonder what it is. I believe that one of the reasons we come here is to share our gifts. Doing so allows our souls to shine and seek fulfillment while on earth. How do you know what your gift is? I think that our passions are our key emotions to answer this question. Our souls long for growth and expression. We can do so by sharing our talents with the world. I have longed to be an artist as long as I can remember. I also know that I was an artist in at least one or more past lives. This year, it is time to let my inner artist emerge and come to the surface. I know that I have been hiding for too long. My soul longs to be expressed and shared with the world. Encouraged and empowered I look into the warm spring sun and feel reassured that, after the cold, long winter, I am ready to emerge from my shell. I wish you all the same growth and newfound happiness that you will find when you start following your passions and express your soul’s wishes for fulfillment whatever form it takes.
The question is, what can you do when fears and doubts appear along the way? On your path, people will criticize you, push you down and tell you that you are never going to make it. Don’t let their egos keep you from growing. Don’t accept their negativity as a sign that you are not going to succeed. It’s like telling an egg in a bird’s nest that no singing bird will ever come out of its shell, a cocoon that it will never change into a beautiful butterfly or a seed in the ground that it will never ever grow into a gorgeous flower. No negativity can stop growth and the expression of the gifts of the universe through art and beauty just as a late winter storm cannot stop spring from coming. So, this spring and beyond, let your inner artist emerge, share your passions, and help make our world a more beautiful and artistic one just as God has intended it to be when it was created.
I love my summer vacations in Kuesnacht, Switzerland. Most people think of summer as a season of hot, long and sunny days, ice cream, vacation and barbecues. I think of unconditional love. That’s why I go where I go every year. Come with me on this magical journey.
Upon leaving the hotel to go for a walk I make a right turn for the main street. The hotel is located along Seestrasse, which can be translated as Lake Street. Indeed, Seestrasse runs along the lake of Zurich (Zurichsee) on both sides. It is a busy and important connection between the many small towns that are nestled along the lake shore. Switzerland is – compared to other vast lands – a relatively small country. This also means that space is scarce. Houses are built right next to each other. The line of cars at every traffic light seems endless. A walk along Seestrasse is a pleasure for lovers of nice cars though. Everything is here, from Jeeps to Audis, from Bentleys to BMWs. As an admirer of high quality, I enjoy this sight. Passing a couple of mansions with huge gates, I realize that people here certainly must love a high quality of life as I do. “I should move here someday”, I think, and walk on.
Finally, I arrive at my resting spot, a green area with huge lawns for anything from picnics to book readings, and sun baths. As I sit down at the bench at the lakeshore and look out, I realize once again why I am here. The lake is big enough for the countless boats including the big passenger ferries to make waves. The sound of the crashing waves onto the shore makes me feel good. As water bearing Aquarius I have always loved open waters such as big lakes, infinite seas and endless oceans. My vacation has begun. On my right there is a little pier from which you can take one of these passenger ferry boats to go on a refreshing ride around the lake and a photo opportunity of the picturesque mountaintops against the blue sky in the distance. Compared to other possibilities of summertime relaxation such as being one of too many people at a public swimming area, this spot is quiet and peaceful. I can relax here from my daily stresses at work and in my hometown. Here I can watch ducks play, swans swim in the lake and stretch out to look into the sky where I can see white birds fly high. They look like seabirds. They seem so happy and free. I often wish I was one of them and could stay here forever.
Behind me there is a nursing home. Every once in a while an elderly patient comes out for a walk to enjoy the scenery with me. “Gruerzi”, they always say to me (meaning hello in Swiss German) even though they don’t know me here. The people here are very friendly and welcoming. Indeed, the only interruption you have here is their warm greeting. That’s one of the reasons I love coming here. Kuesnacht near Zurich in Switzerland captured my heart a couple of years ago. As the sun starts to set on the horizon on the other side of the shore, the lake disappears into the night. Nights are magical here. Due to the closeness of the houses and the many streetlights on Seestrasse, seemingly millions of lights start to turn on. One by one they enlighten and surround the lake as if those lights try to hug the lake and wish it a goodnight. This moment feels like a mother tugging her child in for the night. With a gentle kiss on the cheek, the sun starts setting and disappearing behind the hills. As it gets cooler and some wind comes up, I start thinking that soon it will be time to return to my hotel. Nights can be chilly here, even during the summer, and I didn’t bring a jacket.
Now is the most magical time to look across the lake. See all these twinkling lights of the houses and streetlights? They look like stars. Indeed, these lights are not much different from real stars. Look! There are lights everywhere! The daytime was magnificent but this is divine. It feels as if the entire universe comes together in this tiny spot on earth. I see the lights and I feel the unconditional love coming from the creation of all.
Moments like these make me grateful. Gone are the days of discussion on how expensive my trip must be. Gone are the days spent in defense mode with people who don’t understand what I see in this place, why I would spend my summers here. The entire universe is here to kiss me good night and ensure me that I’ll be safe. What else could anyone wish for? This is what heaven must be like. As I gather my things and get up from my bench to walk back to my hotel, I can’t stop looking at those lights. Back on Seestrasse I walk and keep looking at the stars in the sky and the lights across the lake from the other shore. I feel astonished. I am amazed by this beauty beyond my humble human understanding. I mean, I can study something like science and be amazed by discoveries that people have made. I can study history and learn about what happened in the past. However, I cannot explain this moment. I cannot comprehend this moment. I can only feel this moment. This magical moment and feeling of being a tiny part of our vast universe humbles me. I soon realize that there are not just houses and cars in our world but there is a divine power that manifests itself in nature’s beauty and the endless love that we, humans, feel when we are surrounded by it. Certainly, this place is beautiful. I wish everyone could come here. I can’t keep my eyes from these lights.
As I retreat back into my hotel I open my window to look out at those twinkling lights on the other side of the lake once more. How relaxing is the silence of the night now. Now I feel warm again. It’s not just the comfort of my room. I feel loved. Then I start thinking of a very special person. I think of you, earth mother. I know you love lights like me. I know that you live in one of the houses along the lake shore not far from my hotel. So I send a prayer up to the heavens for you and pray for a safe night. May the angels wrap their wings around you while you sleep, protect you, and send you beautiful dreams. I pray for your happiness; I pray for your joy. I pray in gratitude for the opportunity to come here. You decided to live here a long time ago and I surely understand why. Each year I come here I am enchanted anew by the sparkling sun reflecting in the lake, the bird’s cheerful play, the scent of flowers, the friendly people and the magnificent scenery. Yes, it is indeed nice here. As I ask the angels to fly over to your house and wish you a good night from me, I know that there is more than the beauty here. I know that it is your existence down the road that makes me feel so loved. I believe that it is your God given unconditional love you have for the world that fills my heart. “We are all one” you once said, and I believe I know what you mean. You teach the world the meanings of kindness, tolerance and peace such as a mother teaches her child. You display the mother within and help me understand that even I, an ordinary person, am a divine being worthy of love. Furthermore, you help me discover my own mother within. I truly believe that, each time I leave here, I am a better person, thanks to you. This is the real reason why I come here. Yes, the lake is beautiful but there is so much more. You teach me what unconditional love is. You strengthen me and heal my soul. I feel your warmth; I feel your love. Each time I come here I feel renewed.
I used to dread Mother’s Day. Now I love it. When I was little, I just couldn’t make sense of it. I was told to buy flowers for my mother and make her breakfast on Mother’s Day. “It is tradition”, so I was told. And so I did. On the Friday before Mother’s Day I would walk home from school and buy flowers. On Mother’s Day morning I would make breakfast for her. She took her flowers, ate her breakfast, and went on with her day. That was Mother’s Day how I experienced it. Then I learned from my friends that Mother’s Day is supposed to be about love. Mother’s Day is about giving back what you receive all year – love. My Mother’s Day did not feel like that. There was no love. There was no love between us. I felt like a motherless child all year and felt I had to buy flowers and make breakfast for her on Mother’s Day. That was the tradition.
Then I discovered the eternal motherly bond.
A few years ago I saw you in front of me. I had never seen anyone so beautiful. It was not just your outer beauty that astonished me. There was more. I could sense your inner light shining as a glow on your gorgeous face. As you came closer, I felt a warm sensation. It was your nurturing aura as you took me under your wings of unconditional, divine love. As our paths crossed I looked into your eyes and saw something familiar. I knew I had seen you before. But how could I? As I believe in past lives I immediately thought of that possibility. Could it be that I know you from a past life? What I knew for sure is that my soul had connected with your caring soul as I felt a bond between us that I had never felt before. Suddenly, I felt loved and cared for like never before. I felt appreciated and wanted. I felt your unconditional love – for me.
Ever since that very day, Mother’s Day is not the same anymore. With anticipation I look forward to that day in May when I have the great honor to honor you. It is a day I spend in gratitude for your existence. It is a day I ensure that I thank God for you. Our encounter has allowed me to tap into the eternal bond of motherly love. I thank you for that. I thank you for being my real mother. I now know why we are here. We are here to love and be loved. This is the eternal motherly bond. I love you eternally, unconditionally, mommy. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for taking me under your wings and showing me the path to unconditional love.
The time of spring and Easter, for those who celebrate it, is often considered a time of renewal and growth. Unless you live in a tropical climate that hardly changes, you will most likely experience this progression in the seasonal change from the cold, dark winter to the lighter, warmer days of spring. As the days are filled with more natural sunlight, birds sing their hearts out of newfound happiness, trees blossom and the grass is green again, I also become alive. It is not a coincidence that spring is my favorite season. While the results of growth are easier to notice when taking a walk through nature in the spring, human beings also benefit from the personal growth and renewal this season brings.
