New.

It's Easter Sunday, and I am thinking about being made new.  Renewal.  Risings.  Changing.  Being alive.

Most of my acquaintances and friends know that I am not religious at all, so Easter isn't a major holiday for me.  I do love candy, but I don't exactly believe in all of the religious attachments to the holiday.  After all, the very name "Easter" actually refers to a month named after the goddess Eostre, a pagan goddess connected to spring, hares and eggs (not kidding).  Studying the history of Easter shows how early Christians adapted the observation of the month to their own faith, to remember and signify major events influencing their beliefs.  The history can not be proved and is debated a great deal, but that's not really important to me, personally.


What I do love about Easter is the feeling of renewal and rebirth.  I DO believe in the power of the human spirit and its ability to be constantly revived.  I can recall specific times in my life when I felt broken, changed, and powerless.  But those times were short-lived.  I have always felt lucky that my spirit is strong.  It took some very hard times to teach me that I will always rise again, but now that I know, even in the midst of darkness, I know the light will be quick to arrive if I look for it.

This is probably why the simple (and only) words to one of my favorite songs are: "This time around, you can be anyone."  There is such power in realizing I can be exactly what I want or need to be, and that I can change, and that's a beautiful, powerful act.


I love stories of rebirth.  I love knowing that I can try anything on the planet, and if it doesn't work, I didn't fail.  I am always made better by the trying, by the experience.  I love knowing that I am me, and I am inherently good, but the me I know today will not be the same in ten years' time.  But that me will also be inherently good.


Today, Easter falls on a gorgeous day - the type of day that is so gorgeous you sort of want to burst.  My doors and windows are open.  Trees and flowers are in bloom.  Birds are singing.  The sun is shining, but it's soft.  It's the sort of day you can imagine being the perfect reminder that everything grows, everything changes, and life can be beautiful if you're open to beauty.  


I can not always ignore the darkness in the world.  I struggle to even watch the news - wars, murders, natural disasters - all create suffering, and I don't want to be blind to the struggle.  At the same time, I don't want to let the knowledge of that suffering snuff out the small amount of light I may be carrying.  

So I will keep being renewed and reborn within myself, within life, on a beautiful earth.  That is what feels right to me, and maybe some good will come to my corners of earth for it.  It seems to be the only thing that makes sense.  Strange that constant growth and change can bring peace and balance - but true, for me.

Happy Easter, and I hope you're all being exactly who you want to be.  And also having chocolate bunnies.

"So long as a person is capable of self-renewal, they are a living being."
Henri Frederic Amiel