Beltane: Celebrating Renewal

Today is Beltane, one of the cross-quarter turns off the year, the mid-point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.

We pause to celebrate fertility and renewal within ourselves and nature.

Nature is regenerative. Take a walk outside and you can see this is on full display in the blooming of the flowers and trees that were barren only a few weeks ago.

Nature’s power to reproduce and repair itself is a power that we as humans also have, both in the literal sense of reproduction as well as in the production of ideas and resources.

Each time we pause at one of the turns of the wheel of the year, we reconnect with these cyclical properties of nature and remember that we too are a part of nature.

We are always in a process of change and renewal, from our cells to our skin to our sense of identity.

Although we experience winters in our lives, springs come. When we think we have “run out” or “reached a limit” we can remember that everything comes back around.

The regenerative process of nature means that we will always have enough because we can always produce more.

As we contemplate how nature operates — both in the fields and in our bodies — it’s impossible not to cultivate a sense of awe at the process. Look at how the flowers bloom or how your skin heals itself from a cut. All without interference from you.

The more we witness and appreciate this, the easier it is to cultivate a feeling of gratitude. In any moment, we are the recipients of blessings for which we did not have to do anything.

This, in turn, strengthens our feeling of sufficiency — the belief that we have enough, do enough, and we are enough.

As we cultivate feeling of gratitude, we also find deeper trust that we will be provided for, which also strengthens our feeling of enoughness.