Welcome Spring: A Time for Fresh Beginnings
Drew, Myra, and Mendek building new staking for their heirloom raspberries, 1985
As a New York City kid who moved onto a small heirloom raspberry farm in Carmel Valley right after college, I quickly fell deeply in love with working with the soil and living in sync with the rhythms of nature. Being outside most of the day, using my body rather than my mind to accomplish the tasks at hand, brought me a level of peace and wellbeing I hadn’t ever experienced before.
After our first year on the farm, I no longer wanted to follow through on my original plan to go to graduate school in International Relations, so I was lucky that my husband Drew and I were able to figure out how to build a successful business in the world of agriculture by being the first to popularize pre-washed organic specialty salad greens.
Looking back thirty-eight years to those early days, it feels like my whole system took a great big EXHALE when we landed on the farm. I was finally living in direct connection with the earth, and it was as if I could hear whispered encouragements to trust her timeless wisdom and forgo all the synthetic chemicals that had become the conventional way to farm.
Myra and Drew with their first refrigerated truck, circa 1988
But within a few years, the demands of our fast-growing organic produce business had me sitting at a desk all day again, using my mind more than my body. Gone were our afternoon siestas to rest our tired limbs. There were calls to be made, problems to solve, paperwork to get done!
Now, as the trees on our farm are blossoming outside my window, the same whispers from the earth that I first heard as a busy-brained 20-year-old are still calling to me. It is those whispers that inspire our Quest for Eternal Sunshine Circles of Light to help us tune into the powerful energies of each season for replenishment, joy and peace.
Hilary Nicholls, circa 2014 (photo by Christine del Valle)
Circles of Light are free quarterly nature-based guided meditations led by my close friend, the wonderful healer, Hilary Nicholls. I shared the magical story about how I discovered Hilary fourteen years ago in one of my first blogs, where I related Hilary’s fascinating journey to becoming a healer and described some of the way she helped me while I was writing Quest for Eternal Sunshine.
I had regular sessions with Hilary for almost a decade, feeling boundlessly grateful to her because she was the first person who’d been able to help calm my persistent worry and anxiety. When I describe her work, I often say that Hilary shifts people’s energy like when we switch the channel on a television set—turning away from a news station covering violent horrors towards the uplifting beauty of a nature show.
It is my joy and privilege to share Hilary’s lovely presence and powerful work four times a year in our Circles of Light, where we consciously welcome each new season and attune ourselves to nature’s healing rhythms to help us find balance and thrive. Now we’re getting ready to welcome the energies of spring and fresh beginnings.
“Baby animals remind us that springtime is a season where life renews itself. The songs of migrating birds uplift us and inspire feelings of optimism,” Hilary says. “The increased sunlight beckons us to go outdoors, and the more time we spend in connection with blooming plants and flowers, the more we’re reminded that it’s time for us to make a fresh start, too. The extra warmth, fresh air and sunshine boosts our mood and helps creativity flourish.”
If you’d like to tap into the vibrant season of spring in community, Hilary and I invite you to join our free Circle of Light on Tuesday, March 22, from 5:15 PM to 5:45 PM Pacific—a nature-based guided meditation that includes a short stream of consciousness journaling exercise to help connect us with our inner guidance. “The power of the circle has been known by all indigenous peoples throughout history,” Hilary explains. “The focused attention of each individual combines with the power of the group consciousness in a synergistic way that allows our intentions to more readily manifest.”
Wishing everyone a flourishing spring, with vibrant health and much joy!
Myra
