So much of life feels new these days. Summer coming on the heels of Spring, colorful blossoms growing up out of fresh dirt and hanging from baskets at my front and back door. It feels like a season for adventure–and certainly for change. In the past few months I’ve traveled to India, transitioned jobs, attended doula training (through DONA International in Ann Arbor), trained for a race and finished it with a personal record, dug and cultivated and planted and watered, watched our whole front yard get dug up and redone, re-launched a blog and, most amazingly, witnessed childbirth for the very first time. When I look back on the start of 2010, I never imagined just how much could take place in so short a time. And through it, I’m learning the irreplaceable value of trying new things. Of not being afraid. Of letting myself fail or forget or unbalance sometimes.

I love balance. And order. I thrive on both. But life has become so much more dynamic and interesting since shaking things up a bit. I feel alive. My senses have been heightened by new sights, sounds, places, tastes, experiences, feelings and memories. Life seems tangible–like I can reach out and actually feel it swirling through my fingertips. And in all of this physical preparation for Spring and Summer to arrive, I think I’m budding new leaves myself. Leaves that I’ll bare and open and unfurl over time until I’m taking in as much light and oxygen and life as my little existence will allow. Then, perhaps, I’ll thank God, smile, and do it all over again.