A capricious Spring struts in, gracing us with her highly sought-after diva-like presence. In the northern hemisphere, the month of April tends to be the most tumultuous; rainy and windy one day and the next, laced with warm promises of growth to come. It is theorized that April is named after the Greek goddess, Aphrodite, who was said to have had a mixed personality; beautiful and kind but ill-tempered and violent… sound familiar? Others say it comes from the Latin word aperire meaning ‘to open.’ Naturally, this makes sense considering this is the season of growth.
April Showers bring May Flowers
This popular English rhyme holds two meanings, the first and most obvious is that the soggy month of April provides a major element needed for flowers to grow, water. The second and more profound is a lesson in patience, reminding us that enduring long periods of adversities and unpleasantries can bring about beauty and happiness. After long winters, the last thing we want is rainy days which can make us feel more gloomy and depressed. For those afflicted by addiction, these feelings are likely amplified as cabin fever has had more than sufficient time to settle in. Boredom tends to push us to old habits. The journey to recovery is not easy! From day to day one may cycle through a wide range of emotions, and way too often it goes unnoticed until the downward spiral begins. In times like these, it is important to know your coping methods and utilize them as needed, journaling may help. At the Dismas Home of New Hampshire, we implore you to look at this time of year differently. What lesson does the rain teach us ? Think about the day your science teacher was excited to tell you all about the puffy cotton-like objects in the sky, and clouds. Clouds are made of water droplets. When these droplets grow and become too heavy to stay suspended in the cloud, they fall as rain which cleanses and heals the earth, promoting growth for all living things. There is a beautiful and important lesson here; when things become too heavy for us to bear, it is okay to let them go through tears. Tears like the rain have the ability to cleanse and heal our souls and from that process, stimulate much-needed growth and development.
Big Girl DO Cry
We live in a society that views crying as a sign of weakness and raise our children to believe that crying has an expiration date but that couldn’t be further away from the truth. Our staff firmly believe that crying is a powerful tool that can be used to express yourself while experiencing a range of emotions, positive or negative. Studies show that our tears consist of water, oils, antibodies and stress relieving hormones that act as natural painkillers. This is the reason we tend to feel a lot better after a good cry. At the Dismas Home of New Hampshire we encourage our residents to model the behavior of clouds and release these healing tears when things become too intense. Rain, although unpleasant at times keeps the life cycle alive, our tears work the same way. Use them as fuel to drive the vehicle of change, use them to build an armor for survival, use them to rise up out of the mud and come into your own beauty – the person you’ve always wanted to be. Let your tears wash over your soul and bloom like the Lotus. The story of the Lotus flower is one of resilience, from the muddy waters they bloom and have the ability to purify it. This hardy flower is extremely adaptive, they can survive under ice as long as their roots remain in water or mud and they can tolerate the scorching sun. Each night they submerge into the murky water and each morning they rebloom without residue from their environment. The journey from addiction to recovery is like the life cycle of the Lotus, rising up from unpleasantries and blooming each day anew.
Addiction is like a storm promising destruction. A powerful energy-sucking force where layers of heavy black clouds blanket the sky, draining all the light. Recovery is the rebirth. The period in which the rain lets up and the clouds part to reveal not only the sun but also a beautiful rainbow. Don’t give up; you are stronger than you think, empower yourself, forgive yourself and learn how to weather the storm. Happy Spring, learn to dance in the rain; it’s only water.
