Spring is the best time of the year to make resolutions. It seems so much harder to make a change when everything around you is stagnant and grey in the middle of winter.  I grew up in Florida, where there are no seasons.. There are only a few days a year that require a sweatshirt, and most of those days it hardly dips below 60 degrees. When I moved to San Francisco it was more of the same – usually 50 degrees, maybe rainy, probably cloudy, or sometimes sunny. So perhaps it is because, for the first time in my life, I am living in a place with actual seasons that I find myself even bothering to think about this.

The other week as I was walking the cherry blossom lined streets of the city, I was reminded of the days I had brought Edith and Lilah home from the hospital and how those too had been sunny spring days full of pink blossoming trees. And last night, after Edie’s third birthday party, I looked at her and thought of how many other things had changed in the past three years. Some good, some bad, but there wasn’t much that was the same as it had been that first day we brought her home. This past year in particular has brought a lot of change. Some transitions have been harder than others and when I took stock of what life is like today I made a list of all the changes I want to make starting now. I needed to put it down on paper,  shed the gloomy thoughts of this dreadful winter, and start anew.

I feel exhilarated at the chance to embrace growth within myself. I want to take the time to clear the mental clutter and get rid of the beliefs that no longer empower or better me and nurture the little feelings that “I am good enough”. I want to figure out what else moves me besides being a mom and a wife. I want this year to bring more laughter, more adventure, more play and less routine, and more ice cream (God knows there definitely hasn’t been enough ice cream this winter). I want to complain less and enjoy it more.

What change do you want spring to bring you?