Spring

Isn’t it exactly this that connects me so deeply with the world – with the present moment? Exactly this: that I go to the market. There, I buy honey from a beekeeper. Just a few weeks ago, the bees pollinated the first spring blossoms and captured everything in this honey – the taste of spring, which can only taste the way spring feels, the way it appears to us, the way it smells.

When I eat this honey in exactly this phase, it becomes just another flavor in my one and only now – a flavor that fits so perfectly into this season. It tastes sweet, a little like summer, but also still earthy and raw, as if winter lingers within me. I approach it – with the honey – and I feel connected to the world, to the present world, to my spring, to my surroundings.

Just as the bees collect nectar, I sit here and soak in the first rays of sunlight. The long winter is over. The way the honey tastes, that’s how I taste – that’s how I sense my mood, full of longing, ready to set out. I lift my face to the sun, letting it fill me completely, just like the first blossoms on the meadows. I can only fully live in this season if I surrender to it completely. But first, I must welcome it within me – by becoming part of spring myself.

Then I walk with it, and it walks with me, and I feel at home – in myself and in the world. I watch the first blossoms, feel the cool air against my bare skin, lift my face to the sun, listen to the birds and insects. Potatoes, leeks, then honey – and soon, rhubarb and spinach. I am a part of the world and the present – only when I move with it do I feel connected, in sync with nature.