The First Sunny Day in March
The brilliance of a bright blue sky after months of dreary dark grey. The simple sensation of warmth on your face that comes with an early spring day. An artistically crafted cup of coffee, and an open canvas of time to savor every sip. The easy joys brought by the magic of March. A sincere, hesitant hopefulness that rises with the more frequent sunshine.
Don’t get me wrong. Winter is my favorite season. But even I get sick of bundling, being cold, and slipping on ice-covered sidewalks when winter hangs on too tightly during February. And even when it doesn’t, even when we’ve felt the budding spring already peaking through a frozen world, something feels different about the first sunny day in March.
Life feels more alive. The world more alert and awake. You can almost be certain that strangers are going to be more pleasant than they were just yesterday. It feels like a deep breath in, and a heavy exhale releasing all the tension you didn’t realize you were holding inside you.
Sure, you know you need to keep your warmest coat handy. And you’ll probably need to shovel at least a few more times before winter fully lets go. But finally, after at least a hundred days of hibernation, spring feels imminent. You’re almost certain there are more warm days ahead of you than days where you bundle against the cold.
It’s a glimmer of hope. A sliver of light that, no matter how vast the surrounding darkness, cannot be snuffed out. A tiny but secure foothold, a respite from falling through the rabbit hole. And in the tumult of these strange times, we could all use the extra footholds. We could all use the extra slivers of light that add depth and shadows to the crushing emptiness all around us.
There are many ways to accept the world and the daily life that fills it.
The sun is shining, but tomorrow is probably going to be back to snowy cold. I’ve got a quiet morning on my calendar, but this afternoon is cluttered with meetings and commitments. The air smells like spring, but the world is crumbling from conflict. There’s one way to look at the chaos of life, but there’s also another.
Tomorrow might be snowy and cold again, but today the sun is shining and the sky is a bright blue. This afternoon is going to be busy with other people, but I have this morning for myself. There’s a lot of conflict in the world right now and it feels heavy on my heart. But the air smells like spring today, and that’s something too.
The difference is hope. Finding the little slivers of light and holding onto them. Letting yourself enjoy, and be grateful for, the moments of respite in a crazy, chaotic world. Recognizing that darkness might be everywhere, but light is everywhere too.
We can choose to see only vast emptiness and let ourselves free-fall. We can put on blinders, and look for only the bright spots, feeling ourselves hollow out quietly. Or we can acknowledge both light and dark, hope and grief, for what they are.
The world is a messy place. Life is fragile and unpredictable. But today is the first sunny day in March. And that feels like something special.
