Maryn is beckoning spring

Welcoming the season with a mood/vision board

I had to Google to make sure “beckoning spring” is a thing one might say. It turns out there’s a fancy Japanese incense scent called Beckoning Spring, so I think I’m in good company. LET US BECKON SPRING.

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If you’ve been here for a while, you know that once a new season is rolling in, I like to make an *intuitive mood/vision board to ground myself in the transition.

I’ve spotted some early blooms in my neighborhood plus my inner self is all sorts of churning, so I’m taking that as my cue to make a new board.

But first, a look back at my winter board!

*I wrote about my process in this post. Much love and gratitude to my life coach who inspired this in the first place!

looking back on winter

See sources in original post

It brings me joy just looking at it, you know?

This is the original message I pulled from my winter board:

“Looking within. Accepting change. Embracing rest and slowness. Making space for silliness, magic, and fun. Setting down my heaviness and allowing myself to simply exist.”

I genuinely love winter. I realize that’s not normal. But I think my board helped me love it even more. It helped me give myself permission to rest and just be in the winter months. February was a little more funky for me, but maybe that’s because my body could feel some change on the horizon, away from winter.

Of course, we’re still in that funky transition time, so let’s bring on the spring board!

my spring board

Lamp / Leaves / Care less / Weaving / Rothko / Tree / Speech bubbles / Love is here / Dog frog / Midst of it / Fortune teller / Badges

It took me a solid three tries of arranging the images before I got my brain to chill and let my intuition take over. Poor brain is on edge lately. But let’s see what we’ve got:

• Something I notice right away is that the colors I gravitated towards this time aren’t that different from my winter board: greens, blues, reds, pinks… But they are slightly warmer tones with some yellows, browns, and creams mixed in. I’m defrosting over here.

• I also see a lot of crafting and tangibility! I was a crafting machine as a kid and teen and I’m trying to bring some of that energy back. In general, I want to spend time doing more things that make me forget about screens and remind me how sweet it is to be a living, breathing, creating human.

• I love the text image in the top left: “To care less in some ways and to care more in other ways.” Living with OCD means that I sometimes struggle to know what to care less or more about it, since I often have intrusive thoughts ping-ponging in my head that make it difficult to discern what really matters. An ongoing goal for me right now — and probably forever — is to build trust in myself and my ability to make decisions.

• It is now a rule that I include a dog image. The dog hugging a frog just made sense. Intuitively speaking.

• Lastly, the colorful “Love is Here” image overlapped with the blue “I’m in the midst of it.” When I first arranged all the images, these two were no where near each other. I saw the “I’m in the midst of it” as more of a representation of my anxious brain. When I gave it another try and let my intuition guide, I ended up putting these images next to each other… and then I made the connection. “Love is here” AND “I’m in the midst of it.” When my brain is in a rough place, my default belief is that I’m unloveable and will spend my days being lonely and sad. Logically I know these things aren’t true, but sometimes it’s really hard to remember. I’ve had a lot of days like that recently, and this was a needed reminder of all the love I experience in my life. It’s here and it’s now. I’m in the midst of it.

moving forward

Sometimes it feels like my life is an ongoing thread of coping methods. The morning before I made my spring board, I was worried I was going to have an anxiety attack. Making the board helped me feel assured and hopeful for the months ahead. I’m excited to see the evolution in store for me as the earth evolves too.

You can come whenever you’re ready, spring.

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goodies

Watching: The new season of Somebody Feed Phil is out on Netflix and it’s as delightful as ever. It’s right up there with The Great British Bake Off as far as wholesomeness goes... or dare I say it’s even more wholesome?! Every episode is such a treat! There’s a Washington D.C. episode that made us pine for our D.C. days.

Reading: I bought Freddy The Thursday Murder Club for his birthday (at

Jen Bruton

’s excellent recommendation) and then promptly “borrowed” it and started reading it myself. It’s a murder mystery that takes place at a retirement village in England. It’s a hoot, the chapters are short, and I have a hard time putting it down! This is coming from someone who is ordinarily not at all into murder mysteries.

Listening: Lately I’ve been putting on a lot of calming instrumental music to work and craft to and it sets an excellent vibe. This artist radio has been my go-to. Music! The power it holds!

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I’d love to know

Have you tried making an intuitive mood/vision board? If yes, how did it go? How are you feeling about spring coming? What are you reading, watching, and listening to these days? What music do you put on to soothe your spirits?

Love,

This masterpiece of a photo was taken by my dear friend Morgan as we celebrated her birthday. Balloon doorways make everything better!