The vernal equinox took place just days ago, the moment when we, once again, embrace the spring and the season of renewal and re-awakening. I think you would be hard pressed not to feel joy at the sight of daffodils blooming in their sunshine yellow, leaves beginning to bud and the sun feeling warm after the long winter.

It’s a time to look forward and set intentions for growth, a time to shake off stillness and rest and find movement and renewed energy.

Before we can move ahead, though, we must take a deep look inside and see what we might want to give up or let go. What is it that is holding us back, what is it that makes us feel an almost physical weight on our shoulders? It is a worthwhile exercise to write all of those things down, make a list, and then destroy it, focusing on letting go of what no longer serves us.

I find that ritual so powerful and I also, in truth, often find myself trying to let go of the same things or kinds of things. Many, if not all, of these things are things that I cannot control, and I chafe at my inability to help, to influence choices that are theirs alone to make. I cannot “fix” the world or the people in it. I cannot “fix” the people in my life. The only person over whom I have any control is, of course, me.

So I write the words of frustration, even anger and disappointment and I watch them disappear, usually in a candle flame. And I set about to write my intentions for what lies ahead. I have much on my “to do” list and first among them is to practice non-attachment, to let others be who they are and hold onto my own path, my own journey.

May this spring be a time of energy, of getting past the biggest obstacles, the ones we create for ourselves, and may it be a time of joy, growth and peace. May it be a time we continue to fill our full hearts.