For both months of April and May, I invite you to take a new look at what Spring means.

Depending on what part of the country you live in, you may have grown accustomed to forget the arrival of Spring for the nice weather is almost always there. In some northern parts such as where I live, Spring is welcomed with open arms and an apparent incessant verbiage among us as to the effect that it is so nice outside, finally Winter has relinquished its place to the melting, the warmer days and longer sunshine on our heads.

We suddenly feel differently alive again.

Next in line, comes a Spring cleanup. It almost calls us to do something, clean the yard, start looking at the garden patch, visit the new nurseries and see what is on the shelves for the fresh planting. Many of us suddenly want to buy flowers to put in the house, as well as in the garden when the frost bites will have melted into thin air.

In spite of this emergence and "renouveau", for most of us who are aging, and even some much younger persons, we may have lost the spirit of what Spring really represents. It was found years ago that the majority of suicides happened in the Spring! Although it might be surprising to most of us, for these lost souls, Springtime meant they had to face their fears of reconnecting with a new growth, a new sap emerging from the center of the earth.

For most of us, Spring brings a new air, a new growth, new leaves, new actions to do to prepare the garden and the nature's beauty we want to surround ourselves with. Women are looking for a new wardrobe; a new beauty becomes inspired. What if we all took a serious look at all the new growth that happens to us on a daily basis?

We may have the urgency to get new clothing but do we have the same urgency to clean up our emotional wardrobe? Do we pay attention to the details that have gathered, unattended for sometimes too long, but rather feel that it can be delayed one more week!

Do I take the time to go over the Winter and see what I may have collected, and for what reasons? Do I nurture some intimate moments, such as nature does so well, to rekindle with the earth, this nurturing body, and see how I could feed (or extinguish) this past collection of unresolved issues? So many times, the simple fact to sit down with oneself and ask the question will trigger a new growth. Maybe you can allow yourself the time to watch the outcome.

What if we looked at this new Springtime to do a ritual and become grateful that Mother Earth never forgets to come back, never forgets to create growth, to help all the tiny buds grow into beautiful and magical plants. What if in spite of the age that shows in so many signs, we all took the time to be grateful for the experience, the growth, the wisdom that hides behind those signs. Even though we do not see growth happening inside a seed until it is way showing its signs of maturing, we are intimately connected to our own inner growth and may not always allow ourselves to connect with it. What if you became the inner gardener inspired by gratitude and wisdom to become who you really want to be and become?

The same way a gardener has to clean up the garden before planting, and it has to be done every time, we should adopt a similar attitude to clean up our recent past if we really want to profit from its fullest potential and all the beauties that Spring can also share with us.

In My Beauty & My Beast, Mind, Body and PMS, I have written and encouraged women to stop their three and four jobs and take time for themselves.

How many of you take a time each day to simply BE? How many of us really take the time to sit with our loved ones and share the minute moments of the previous days? How many times, after having worked so hard, did we realize that maybe I should have granted more intimacy or quality to my closed ones?

I urge you to rekindle Springtime in each day and become totally grateful for each breath of life that is within you and around you.

Have Fun!