Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
This Robert Frost poem is one of my favourites. For quite some time I have been thinking about what my first post is going to be about. I did not want to force it to happen, so I took my time (as I tend to do with most things in life) and hoped that it will come to me. It did, it finally did! I am also not a pro at writing, I just know that want to share my honest thoughts, simple! So here I am beginning this journey and there couldn't be anything better than starting it off with "Nothing gold can stay."
It is spring here now. This "here" happens to be in Munich, Germany, Europe, Earth at this point of time in my life. I moved here last year in November before that I had always only lived in India. Love brought me here! I met my wonderful husband, Julian last year in India while we were studying at a Yoga Ashram. When I arrived here it was winter, I literally landed with the first snowfall of the season. Winter for me meant wearing a sweater and socks with covered shoes only until I came to Germany and experienced for the very first time a real winter. real snow. real snowfall. real frost. real cold! It has not been easy but it has been beautiful. Now, magically it's springtime! The sun shines more, the earth is sprouting up, the leaves are coming back on bare branches of trees, there are all kinds of colours and flowers everywhere. It's really really beautiful BUT it's transient.
The sun will continue to shine brighter, stronger and we will enjoy it for a few months more. The trees will be fuller and there will be many flowers, bees, butterflies and birds. Every one will be outside enjoying themselves. It will rain, sometimes on the days when we have plans to go for a hike. Nature will continue to manifest itself through the earth. Eventually the greens will turn into hues of brown, gold and rust. The leaves and flowers will disappear. Nature will then again prepare herself for the cold, long nights of winter. She will hibernate for those few months but things will still continue to happen under the layers of snow and frost. A few months later she will spring up again and explode her beautiful hues, textures and colours everywhere. This process goes on year after year after year. Life's like that too. Just like the seasons; things, creatures, situations, thoughts come and go, happy ones and sad ones, good ones, bad ones and average ones, sometimes they stay long or not stay so long, sometimes they are expected, sometimes unexpected. Everything is in a state of flux.
If everything passes including ourselves, why do we get stuck in life? Why do we not move through life with ease from day to day and moment to moment? Why are we always in the past or the future? Why do we crave for the eternal youth? Why are we waiting for the perfect time to do what we want to? Don't you think, life would be much more fun and joyful if we did not get stuck to how things were, could be or will be? Instead just accepted that everything changes, nothing stays forever and surrendered to what is now, no matter what/how it is. It's easier said that done though. Who wouldn't like to be joyful, stress-free and happy? But the thing is we are not happy or sad all the time and we shouldn't expect to be either. We are never in one state, always changing. The beauty lies in accepting happiness, sadness, health, sickness, euphoria, depression or any other state that we might find ourselves in. Not to fight it but to embrace it, for it will eventually pass and that is the beginning of awareness and the end of ignorance.
This is not to say that we are helpless and that if we are in bad health we should remain like that or if we are in a terrible situation we should stay in it and endure it. No, absolutely not! This is to say that by accepting what is, we also claim our responsibility towards ourselves and then we must we do what it takes to help ourselves be in a better state. Then trusting life to assist us in our efforts.
This term from the Vedas comes to my mind when I think about how to deal with all of this. It's called Sakshi Bhava, Witness Attitude. It means having an attitude of a witness, someone who just watches everything from a distance without getting involved in it. Just being a spectator to the show of life. Viewing the changes and transitions that we go through internally and externally without getting overly attached. Developing this attitude takes time and practice but it is one of the ways to really enjoy our lives.
When are truly detached only then can we really enjoy the Rasa, the essence of everything. It also helps us develop a sense of humour because as we detach we learn to stop taking life so seriously.
The inspiration to write this post came to me while I was sitting by the window in my room soaking in the sun, feeling very nice. The poem "Nothing gold can stay" came to my mind reminding me that it's not going to always be like this. These fresh flowers and new leaves that I see now will wither and fall one day. That's just a law of nature and winter will be back again. Interestingly, I was not bummed out about it, I found it rather beautiful. I only hoped that I will be better equipped for the next winter. For now I am going to go back to enjoying springtime and hope that I will learn to embrace the uniqueness of all the seasons just as they are.
May we all savour the springs, summers, autumns and winters of our lives.