There’s still a chill in the air, but the spring equinox in March officially marks the end of winter. In the Northern hemisphere, spring is a season of rebirth. As the days get longer, lighter and eventually warmer, new leaves and buds appear on the bare ground and trees. The season is full of growth, and a sunny spring day always makes me feel inspired and motivated.
Celebrate the season
There are many different festivities that occur around the spring Equinox. In the Christian world, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated at Easter. Known as a moveable feast, Easter falls on the Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. This year that will be the 9th of April. Many typical symbols of Easter, such as chicks, lambs and, of course, chocolate eggs, reflect the spring season.
The spring equinox also marks the Persian new year, known as Nowruz. Celebrated in Iran as well as across Asia and the Balkans, Nowruz traditions include exchanging gifts, reading poetry, dancing, and sometime pranks and jokes.
Meanwhile, one Bosnian town celebrates the spring equinox with a shared breakfast of scrambled eggs. Known as Cimburijada, this festival involves people gathering on the banks of the river to listen to music and enjoy eggs together as the sun rises!
If you don’t have a traditional holiday that you celebrate in spring, you can still enjoy the end of winter. Many of the holidays involve welcoming the warmer weather and returning plants which everyone can enjoy!
Put a spring in your step
As the season of change and rebirth, spring is the perfect time to try something new. I’ve always found it to be a much more inspiring season for change than New Year’s. The dark days of January make me want to hibernate, but spring encourages me to explore outside my comfort zone.
Spring is the perfect season to refresh your garden. The warmer weather makes it easier for plants to grow and to spend time outside! The RHS advises that April is the perfect month to sow seeds for a vegetable garden. Seeds for carrots, beetroots, peas and onions can be sown outside in well-prepared soil, but make sure to sow squash, tomato or pepper seeds indoors. They can be planted out into your vegetable patch later in the year, when it’s more reliably warm.
It might sound boring, but a traditional spring cleaning can be great for creating change in your life. Sorting out old clothes, appliances, books and furniture can help you make space for new purchases or help you appreciate what you have. Make sure not to simply throw what you don’t need any more in you black bins. Take reusable items to charity shops, or offer them on services such as freecycle. Take broken items to your local tip to make sure they’re disposed of correctly.
If you’re craving a sweeter activity, why not try making your own Easter eggs? The only essential equipment you need are egg moulds, which you can easily purchase from online retailers. Melt white, dark or milk chocolate, and coat your moulds with a thick layer. If you want to mix the different kinds of chocolate, add each type separately and wait for them to cool before adding the next one. You could also experiment with adding treats, like marshmallows or popping candy, into your eggs. Put your eggs in the fridge to help them set faster, and then stick the egg sides together to finish your chocolatey craft. A useful trick is to briefly heat a baking tray at a low temperature and then use it to melt just the edge of your egg halves. This will help them stick together faster and more securely.
Refresh your journal!
The spring themes of rejuvenation and growth are perfect for including in journaling? Whether you’re a bullet journal loyalist, a devotee of gratitude journaling, or just a brain dumper, a spring theme can brighten up your journal.
It’s easy to make a classic spring theme with some flowers and bright, youthful spring colours. If you’re planting something new in your garden, why not add it to your journal as well? You could keep drawings of your plants in your journal to track their growth. Butterflies, bees and other wildlife are also becoming more visible as the weather gets warmer, and are great for a journal spread. Cute ladybirds or busy bees are always a winner for me.
If spring is inspiring you to change your life with a new habit, why not keep track of it your journal? Habit trackers can help you visualise how well you’re sticking to a new habit. A habit tracker can be as simple as a dot calender, which will fit into a journal anywhere. Meanwhile, boxes are great for ticking off tasks or colour coding your habits.
I enjoy adding quotes that I have read or seen to my journal, and there’s lots of wonderful ones that I’ve seen about spring. With so many choices, it would be easy add one to each week of your journal for the next few months. Here’s one of my favourites:
“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!'” – Robin Williams
Happy spring!
