Spring is in the air: A new season blooms

As the semester draws to a close, we’ve already gotten our first email about the Relaxation Room. Just hearing that made me a little more tense. Relaxation is one more thing to add to my schedule.

I have had to break my schedule into hour chunks. Weeks are no longer practical to consider as a block of time. And days? Ha. Today’s assignments, projects and presentations are flowing beyond the limits of 24 hours.

Looking at my calendar, I am shocked to see this is actually the end of week 14. Regardless of what happens in the next two weeks, the semester will come to an end. Soon our schedules will change. Hopefully some of us will get a break, a time to relax and refresh.

As I think about the cycle of an academic year, I notice a familiar rhythm, much like the rhythm of the seasons. In quiet moments of clarity, I can hear and smell spring bursting to life. Flowers and plants that endured the harsh winter are pushing up through the hard ground. We also are pushing through the stress and deadlines to finish the projects.

Seeing the fragrant blooms, I will venture to say that this is not the end.

It is the beginning – of change. A new season, a new era, a new day lies ahead of us. Time cannot be rushed. It cannot be stopped.

Mother Theresa said, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Today I will choose to pause and enjoy the season. The Spring Picnic will be a nice break from planning my finals schedule.