Springtime Growth & Transformation

Springtime brings hope and lessons on growth and transformation

As we enter the season of renewal and growth, the emergence of new life all around us can serve as a powerful reminder of our own potential for growth and transformation. Like the flowers that begin to sprout in the early spring, we too have the ability to bloom and blossom into our fullest selves. The lessons of nature can provide us with guidance and support as we navigate our own personal journey of transformation. 

The moment after we have identified a desired shift as well as the time before we fully realize that shift can trigger feelings of shame, unworthiness, and frustration that leave us doubting our ability to change long held habits. While we may often speak about the emotional ups and downs of change, we rarely acknowledge the cycle of planning, action and, most importantly, the common relapse into old behaviors or perspectives that go into long-term change. 

Springtime invites us to have patience with ourselves during these challenging moments, and shows us that just as flowers will bloom after an unexpected cold front or night of frost, we too can blossom after unexpected obstacles and challenges. Budding flowers offer endless inspiration and wisdom on how to navigate this process.

Cultivating change 

Our growth begins even before we plant the seed. Our everyday existence becomes the soil in which we will plant seeds of transformation. The awareness of behaviors, thought patterns, relationship roadmaps, or even encoded ideas about gender and love help us determine what we would like to cultivate in our lives. We begin to ask ourselves questions about what we need and want for our present and future selves. 

As the answers to these questions crystallize we often take stock of our resources and make plans to ensure that the seeds can take root and eventually flower and bear fruit. When we finally take action based on these plans, we are only halfway through the cycle. In fact the hardest part is yet to come.

In taking continued action we feel hopeful and begin to see our own growth, however, when we meet a challenge that gets the best of our carefully laid plans, we may take this as evidence that the seed we have planted may never grow, or worse that we do not have the ability to grow at all.

However, growing looks more like an endless spiral than a roller coaster with ups and downs and an end time. While internal or external obstacles may demand that we start again, create a new plan, and try again, we do not start from the same place we first began. Our soil has now been fertilized, we have more tools, and we now know what it looks like when the seed begins to germinate or even sprout up.

In this next growth cycle we will build on the lessons from the last to deepen our awareness, enrich our plans, and affirm new habits and actions we take. The cycle after that we will do the same. We will do it again and again and look back and find ourselves on a steady upward spiral we can only appreciate in time.

Cultivating patience

Patience demands self-compassion, grounding, and kindness. No season teaches patience better than spring. By February daffodils have begun to shoot out of the ground and fig buttercups cover the ground with yellow buds, however despite these early signs of spring we will not see everything in full bloom for another three months. Below are three springtime practices that can help cultivate patience in the midst of change.

Self-compassion means treating ourselves with gentleness and understanding. This includes acknowledging our feelings without judgment and giving ourselves permission to make mistakes, rest, and try again when we feel ready. When we have patience with ourselves, we are less likely to use negative self-talk or overgeneralize mistakes as proof that we cannot accomplish what we set out to do.

Practice: 

Notice a plant that you pass by often and begin to take notice of how it looks on different days. On a rainy day do the plants look heavy and droopy? Has it stayed small this year or grown a lot since you last saw it? Is it a new plant? Is it a flowering plant? What do you think it needs to grow? 

Take a picture of this plant every time you see it and add the photo to a folder on your phone. Every time you add a new photo look back to the first one. How has it changed?

Grounding techniques can also be helpful when we feel frustrated or overwhelmed with a seemingly endless journey. Taking a few deep breaths, focusing on the present moment, or engaging in a physical activity can help us feel more centered and grounded. By bringing our attention back to the present moment, we can let go of worries about the future and focus on what we can do right now to move forward. 

Practice: 

When you find yourself outside take notice of the plants peeking through the concrete, the flowers at a flower shop, or the trees around you. Get curious about them. What do they smell like? What do the leaves or petals feel like between your fingers? What shape are the leaves? What do the springtime rains smell like?

Finally, kindness towards ourselves is an essential part of cultivating patience. When we are kind to ourselves, we are more likely to be patient with our progress and have understanding for ourselves when we are faced with challenges that may force us to pause, recover, and reevaluate our plans and intentions.

Practice: 

Adopt a plant either in your home or one that you see frequently; it can be the same one from the first exercise. Every once in a while take a moment to notice what it might need. Learn more about the plant and show this plant tenderness periodically.

You can water it with your water bottle, clear away any leaves around it, prune it if you notice any dead leaves, or even speak a few kind words to the plant as you pass it. 

While it may seem silly to touch, photograph, or care for a weed or flower on your way to work, patience is a practice that requires practice, and spring offers us endless opportunities to practice patience and believe in change. It provides us with beautiful and tender reminders of our ability to transform and an abundance of lessons on how we can go about engaging with the cyclical nature of change.

BLOG AUTHORS ALL HOLD POSITIONS AT THE GENDER & SEXUALITY THERAPY CENTER (G&STC). THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN BY THERAPIST IN TRAINING CAROLINA BATISTA. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR THERAPISTS AND SERVICES PLEASE CONTACT US.