Upon the dawning of the month of May

For someone not necessarily attuned with nature, I feel very aware of the turning of the year and the timing of the ancient celebrations makes a lot of sense to me.  I am always very ready to celebrate life and wellness when May comes, and so I understand why this time of year was set aside for those very things.  I am also a May baby, so this month is of particular importance to me for that reason as well.

Christina at Witchvox writes:  ”Beltane marks the passage into the growing season, the immediate rousing of the earth from her gently awakening slumber, a time when the pleasures of the earth and self are fully awakened. It signals a time when the bounty of the earth will once again be had. May is a time when flowers bloom, trees are green and life has again returned from the barren landscape of winter, to the hope of bountiful harvests, not too far away, and the lighthearted bliss that only summer can bring.”  And when I can think and feel clearly, between the sneezes of allergy season, I feel this.  It makes me understand why students start to get restless – yes, the end of the school year is near, but more deeply rooted in them, their souls are resonating with the new life, and they want to be free, not confined by walls and books and assignments.  As my own semester of study winds down, I know exactly how they feel.

This time of year makes me very aware of how far we as a society have strayed from following our natures and our spirits.  While I want nothing more, on the spirit level, than to be outside and carefree, I stay inside, full of stress and exhaustion.  And that’s the problem.  Even when we can feel the pull of nature telling us to go outside, go for a walk, light a candle, watch the sunset, we tell ourselves we can’t.  We say that there are too many other things we have to do, and then we spend an hour on Facebook, or watching television, or doing something else that we don’t need to do,  but just do, absently, because it’s there.

My goal for this month is to spend more time listening to the inner voice telling me what I want to do, rather than just doing what’s there.  While I can’t abandon the very real modern day demands of work, class, internship – I can be more in tune with myself in the other hours of my day, when I am free to do what I will, and rarely do.  Maybe I will find myself spending more time on the porch, or going for walks, or doing nothing at all.  Maybe I will find more mindful ways to do the mundane tasks that I have to do.  Or maybe I’ll just turn off some of the chatter and find a little more peace.  

What will you do to honor the merry month of May?