New Beginnings
Reflections on Renewal, Hope, and Meaningful Change
Our Spring Equinox Issue celebrates the theme of “New Beginnings,” honoring the gentle yet powerful renewal that arrives with the turning of the seasons. As winter gives way to spring, we are reminded that life is always inviting us to begin again—with fresh perspective, renewed hope, and a deeper connection to the rhythms of the natural world.
Within these pages, our authors share thoughtful reflections on the nature of change and the courage it takes to step into new chapters of life. Through personal stories and soulful insights, they explore healing, rediscovery, and the gentle unfolding of new paths. You’ll also find inspiration for setting intentions, embracing change, and incorporating meaningful rituals and practices that help nurture new beginnings in your life.
Together, these writings remind us that new beginnings are not confined to a particular season or moment. They are always available to us, inviting us to move forward with greater awareness, hope, and trust in the unfolding journey ahead.
Redefining “New” in New Beginnings
New Beginnings Articles What makes a new beginning actually new? It’s not the calendar. It’s not the resolution. It’s the daily practice of becoming someone you weren’t the day before. Each year, for the last 35, that’s taken the form of one thing I commit to every day for a year. I usually start identifying what it will be in November, when I get that hankering for change and look for what needs transforming. By the start of the new year, I’ve been practicing it already. There’s always a practice to transformation—like a concerto pianist doing her finger exercises. The amount of time a professional musician practices is four to six hours a day on average. That’s what it takes to be up to snuff in a concert performance. Amazing, isn’t it? They live and breathe their excellence. Personal work is similar, in that the practice needs to not just be daily but in your every movement. 1996 In 1996, I committed to washing the dishes and having them dried and put away before I went to bed. How that affected me throughout the day was in being more mindful of all my time in the kitchen. After a few weeks, I found myself cleaning up as I went along rather than leaving it to the end of the meal (or end of the day). I soon noticed myself being more conscientious and less sloppy in other areas of the house. Remarkably, it even unwound a particular set of my long-standing procrastination habits without me having to think about it. By springtime, I had grown to love the joy of...
The Liminal Season: New Beginnings
New Beginnings Articles The Quiet Struggle Have you ever experienced an especially harsh season? A stormy spring, a heated summer, a dry fall that makes you question everything. This winter was especially harsh. There were two major snowstorms and days of single digits that hardened the snow into solid mounds of dark, covered ice. The wind was harsh, biting, and relentless. The heat where I worked was on and off, and it seemed the cold was inescapable. Locking myself away for the winter seemed sensible. I coveted sunny days and any warmth the sun could provide. But things were breaking and dying all around me. My usually hardy pothos plants, which could go without water for days and revive with a good soaking, were withering. The leaves turned yellow and dropped off. Then my recently flowering Christmas cacti drooped and died. I helped them as best I could. Searched for answers, nurtured clippings. It all seemed hopeless until recently, when I was watering them, I found delicate green shoots in the barren places. The Gray In Between The season hasn’t fully turned yet — the sky is still dull, and the air is still heavy. There is a day of balmy weather, then the chill comes back, with winds that tear at you. Right now, Earth is approaching the March equinox, which is the precise moment when the planet is not tilted toward or away from the Sun. During this event, day and night are nearly equal across the globe, marking a clear threshold between seasons. Globally, we are in a liminal season — poised at the equinox,...
The Return of Light: A Spring Equinox Practice
New Beginnings Articles Here’s something most people don’t realize about the Spring Equinox: for thousands of years, it wasn’t just a date on a calendar. It was the most important moment of the year. In ancient Persia, the festival of Nowruz (meaning “New Day”) has been celebrated for over 3,000 years on the exact moment of the equinox. Families would spend weeks preparing. They would scrub their homes from top to bottom, not just cleaning the dust, but clearing the energy of the old year. They would set a table called the Haft-Seen, placing seven sacred items that each represented a wish: rebirth, patience, love, prosperity, beauty, health, and wisdom. This wasn’t spring cleaning. It was a spiritual act. A declaration: I am making room for what’s coming. Across the world, from the ancient Egyptians to the Mayans to the Celts, the Spring Equinox was treated as a sacred threshold. The moment when darkness and light are perfectly balanced. They understood something we’ve forgotten: nature doesn’t rush. After the long dark of winter, spring doesn’t apologize for arriving. It simply begins. When Winter Lingers Inside But here’s what’s true for so many of us: even when the world outside starts blooming, something inside stays cold. We carry winters that have nothing to do with the weather. Old grief. Disappointments we never fully processed. Dreams we quietly abandoned somewhere along the way. Versions of ourselves we’ve outgrown, but don’t quite know how to leave behind. We look at the green shoots pushing through the ground and feel a strange mix of hope and heaviness. Why can’t I just start...