Poor February never deserved to be so maligned. Being in some ways the darkest and somewhat gloomiest month of the year, it at least had the good grace to keep itself short.  Spring is nestling deep within those leafless twigs and saplings and at this time of year I find myself longing for its early visible signs.

I have always felt that February enjoys taking us to the edge of sanity, before March comes with longer days and brighter mornings that seem to lead to a frenzy of activity, as we, let out like Mad March Hares, rush around our home, garden and life in an attempt to make up for lost time. Yet in February we become enveloped like earthy cocoons (in my case, complete with muddy floors and dog hair), waiting for the sounds and smells of new life.

This month has, for me, forced me into a period of introspection. I rallied against it for a while, hoping I could beat nature at it's own game by creating different ways to inspire myself. But it had the opposite effect. The more I tried, the less I achieved.

So I went with the flow and hit the chilled out button. Or at least, the Stop Worrying button. We are so used to worrying about Not Doing. It is better to learn to Not Do about worrying.

Every day I made time to sit quietly by myself in a relaxed, semi-meditative state, and write down things that were most important in my life, what gave my life meaning, and what I wanted to make time for. I didn't think too much about it - it wasn't even the real focus of my concerns, but I just let the thoughts flow in whatever way they wanted. And then I closed up my laptop and got on with something else.

When you're self-employed and constantly wired up to the internet, closing your laptop is probably the ultimate symbolic act of self-healing - taking total time out for yourself, your family and the reality of this moment.

Within a week, magic happened. Within one single week, I got all my energy and inspiration back. I found myself waking at 5am each morning with my mind full of so many inspiring ideas, I had to get up and start writing them all down. Suddenly all those concerns I'd had seemed to have melted away and the next steps felt so clear, so lucid - and so right.

So having submitted to nature's infinite wisdom and gone with the feelings, instead of fighting them, my period of enforced 'no-thing-ness' has become an extraordinarily beautiful gestation period, giving birth to such intense feelings of the beauty, passion and abundance of it all. Surely that is what Spring is all about?

So here I am.  And here is February - still.  And what a gift February is! 

With love,

Brige