This time of year there is so much happening beneath the surface of things. The buds are pushing up through the ground to greet the season. Tree branches crack open their bark to reveal flowery blooms and sweet, green leaves at their tips. Spring-loaded.

As nature is starting to wake up again, we tend to feel a surge of new energy too. We find new emotions bubbling up inside each of us. Our creativity gets unstuck and old ideas might shine like new in the light of a new season.

New projects are surfacing after all the hard work and preparation during the winter months when we planted those hopeful seeds. And maybe, just maybe, our better selves are simmering underneath our bad habits and limiting beliefs that no longer serve us. Maybe we need to throw ourselves a little launch party to help those better selves emerge. Spring-loaded.

When I turn the phrase ‘spring-loaded’ over in my mind, I think of an archer pulling back his bow. Its loaded force, effort, potential, ready to be launched at a target. Well, I looked up the meaning of ‘spring-loaded,’ as I do, and I’m more interested in the hyphenated word being separated.

Spring

- move forward by leaps and bounds;

- season of new growth;

- a metal elastic device that returns to its shape or position when pushed or pulled or pressed

Loaded

- filled with great quantity

Spring weather often seems to come with a delay in New York City. We get a few extra weeks, alright more than a few, of being cozy and bundled. I try not to get frustrated. Just like a slow computer, our spring is still loading. I kind of like it though, it gives me more time to water my seeds and plan for what is to come.

This time of year I do two things to get in the spirit of the new season. I throw myself my own little spring launch party. I stroll through the Macy’s Flower Show and I walk through the flower district. This year, I admit, I was bundled up in hat, scarf, and gloves while I snapped these beautiful spring images. I'm hopeful that the warm days are just around the corner.

This year, I took these ‘soul strolls’ (coining my friend Erin Stutland’s phrase,) and really treated them as meditation time, prayer time, and I gave myself a really good daydream session. So many questions bubbled to the surface:
How will I move forward into this new season of growth? And what is behind my spring? Have I loaded it with a great quantity of good thoughts, actions, routines, and good people to support my launch? And can I remember who I am, my highest and best self, when I am pushed, pulled, or pressed by circumstances around me?

Wishing you all ease through this seasonal transition. May you find liberation and a sense of renewal.

I also took a stroll through Whole Foods to get inspired for a dinner party I’m cooking this week. I wanted to make a salad that was spring-loaded. Colorful lettuce, fresh herbs, crisp cucumbers, and sweet kumquats. And the vinegar fairies placed this bottle of rosé champagne vinegar in front of me. Do you know me? I couldn’t resist! (I added honey to the dressing to balance out the bitterness from the red lettuces.) There’s no real recipe, just go shopping and see what inspires you!

Spring-loaded Salad

thinly sliced cucumbers - be careful, my mandolin users!
kumquats sliced into rings - remove any seeds you find
mint, dill, cilantro, roughly chopped
red radicchio, roughly chopped
red Treviso, roughly chopped
champagne vinegar dressing (olive oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper)