Spring

It’s a beautiful day today. The sun shines as wisps of clouds linger by. The wind blows with a breeze that’s not terribly warm, not painfully humid. This is what I love about springtime in the US. The plants and trees are bright green. Varied hues but all fresh and vibrant. The flowers speak and sing with colors so alive. The highways are adorned with wildflowers – with bluebonnets the most celebrated of them all. The grass is lush and carpet-like.

Everything seems all right with the world.

In reality, the world is never all right.

Rain, thunder and lightning will ruin a parade, dampen a party. Weeds will creep up fast and mar the perfect landscape. Either a cold front or a heat wave will shift the temperature to an extreme. And as you want to go out and enjoy the outdoors, sickness or finances will hover and keep you strapped indoors.

Maybe spring represents the upside of life. It represents the ideal, the picturesque and the pleasant. But it certainly doesn’t reflect perfection. Because there’s really no such thing. Sometimes I think that spring is life’s big tease. Just when you think things are well, that your path is straight and clear, that things are going as planned, that the sun and success are aglow, that the flowers are ever in bloom, that the plants and trees are evergreen – life throws a curve ball at you. You find yourself disappointed, disoriented, disillusioned. The timing is sometimes fascinating as well. Just when you thought you have so much to be thankful for, you suddenly find yourself with so much to be angry at.

The fact is springtime is just like any other season, like any other day. It can be full of wonder and excitement or it can turn out to be frustrating, depressing and downright morose. Is life really a balance between times you are having the best of luck and times you’ve been a magnet for bad luck? Is there a magical, mythical or theological force that does course correction and makes sure your existence has a good dose of blessings together with a good dose of crap? Is there an established and guiding curriculum out there that says the learning can’t be complete without benchmark exams and periodical tests? Is there an unspoken fairness rule that says if you’ve been dealt a bad hand that you deserve a winner at some point?

Is there a point to all these questions? Maybe not. It’s in my nature to be reflective, though. I look at the sky and wonder. I listen to the rhythm of the rain and I ponder in silence. I watch a pool or a pond of water and I search for purpose. I stare at the ocean and beg answers to life’s questions.

It’s a beautiful day today. I should be outside. Instead I’m sulking and writing this blog as I mindlessly watch time pass by.