Springtime & Impermanence // Nothing endures…

I am completely connected with the earth–my energy is directly connected with its energy. When I step outside, into nature, I feel the most alive. The air takes on a life of its own amidst the magic of each season. In spring, the sweet smell of blossoming flowers is pure beauty. As I get older, I realize how fleeting the seasons are. I await the spring blossom season with so much hope and expectation. It arrives in its dazzling splendor and then, in no time at all, it has passed.

I have been thinking deeply about the idea of impermanence. In high school, I read the novel, A Separate Peace. I don’t remember much from the book, to be honest, but I remember reading this one line with absolute clarity. It said: Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death. It stuck in my mind like glue. I never forgot it. Over the years, it has come back to me often. Whenever a person dies, a relationship ends, something special is lost — those words come to my mind again.

Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death.

It takes me back to my original thought, about being connected to the earth. The earth is the best teacher. The seasons, especially, teach us the meaning of impermanence. No matter how long we wait for it, no matter how much we cherish it — when the spring blossom season reaches its peak, it quickly fades away. It’s futile to fight against it. The seasons teach us about letting go. Whether it is the blossom falling to the earth, making way for fruit–or the leaves falling from the trees and making way for winter–nature is the ultimate expert in letting go.

As human beings, especially in this society, we are far too disconnected from the process of letting go. We have these unnaturally strong attachments to everything — personal possessions, relationships, ideas. When something is taken from us, we are crushed. In other cultures, letting go is commonplace. Tibetan monks for example spend days making intricate, complex sand mandalas that ultimately, the wind will simply blow away. Even death is a concept that other cultures view so differently. In our society, we view the body as the temple of the soul, we desperately work to keep it going as long as possible. For Hindus and Buddhists, the body is a prison for the soul, they do not view death as the end, but rather death is followed by immediate rebirth.

It isn’t easy to let go, but the older I get, the more I realize how important it is to be able to do it. The more that I live, the more obvious it becomes that, truly, nothing endures. If we can make peace with that, and practice acceptance, we can live in a deeper state of happiness. Taking baby steps is a good idea. You can start today by purging some material possessions. Are there any objects in your home that you are holding onto when you should be letting go? Fill a small box, drop it off at the Salvation Army. Watch how good it feels to let go. Go from there.