Fruit trees are budding and blooming. Horses are shedding. Dogs are shedding. A pair of ducks are inhabiting our creek and appear to be ready for some babies. The daylight is more insistent.

We hear a lot of messaging about how to feel about the seasons. Spring is here! Have a bounce in your step! Enjoy new life all around!

But here’s the thing: all seasonal transitions involve huge change and with that comes stress. Change creates pressure in us and around us. There’s no coincidence that animals (humans included) are more prone to get sick during season transitions. And if you look at mood cycles and mental health patterns, there is plenty of data on the effects of seasonal shifts on our emotional worlds.

Change doesn’t have to be good or bad. Maybe it helps to just see it for what it is. Maybe if we stop “should-ing on ourselves” it can remove one of the pressures of change.

For several days, I was mostly hunkered down in sweatpants even though the outside world was sunny and blossoming with spring. It’s okay that my needs and nature’s activity outside didn’t match those days. Yet, my mind told me otherwise: “Get out there, Beth. Enjoy the sun. Be part of spring.”

Maybe it sounds like this: Spring is happening. It affects me in a variety of ways. I’ll just pay attention to how the change is dancing with my internal world and make whatever adjustments I need to make so that I can have some peace and ease.