spring equinox preparations
we're almost there
hello.
we’re almost there.
spring never arrives all at once. it slips in slowly, beginning with small changes that are easy to overlook at first.
the ground starts to smell alive again and the wind carries that green, damp scent that only seems to exist at this time of year. mornings feel easier to step into, as if the day is opening itself up to you instead of dragging forward.
i always feel this overwhelming sense of relief when the seasons start turning like this. like the first time you step outside and let the sun sit on your skin after months of gray light. it shows up when you open the windows for the first time in weeks and let the air move slowly through the house again. everything that felt paused during winter, ideas you put down, projects you stopped thinking about, small ambitions that felt impossible a month ago, begin to feel reachable again.
spring always makes me want to rearrange my life. i start cleaning out drawers that have been ignored for months, shifting furniture around for no real reason, starting new notebooks simply because the pages feel right for the season. i go on long walks just to see what has changed in the neighborhood, noticing things that were not there the week before. it’s a strange in between season where nothing is fully blooming yet but everything feels like it is on the verge of beginning once again.
spring tastes like fresh strawberries in cold milk lightly dusted with a thin layer of sugar. it tastes like rhubarb baked into something warm. soft cheeses and fresh herbs. meals eaten outside because it is finally warm enough to linger at the table. citrus oil on your fingers after peeling an orange. radishes with cold salted butter on good bread. rain hitting pavement after a dry season. the smell of wet grass rising from the ground.
more than anything, spring carries a kind of restlessness, a feeling that something in you wants to move again. the urge to start something new, to make something, to change something, to step back into the world with a little more energy than you had before. it is a reminder that nothing ever really stays frozen for long and that the world is always beginning again.
today’s letter is a small collection of rituals and preparations for the spring equinox for those of us who have been waiting for the season to turn.
(a full list of spring requisites including films, books, activities, fragrances, and other small seasonal things will be sent on march 20th.)
books to read during the spring equinox
orlando by virginia woolf fluid, transformative, ethereal. time and identity bloom like spring itself.
essence and alchemy by mandy aftel scent, memory, and the invisible language of nature. a beautiful meditation on fragrance, plants, and the emotional worlds they create.
encyclopedia of magical herbs by scott cunningham a timeless reference on herbal lore and natural magic. perfect for spring’s return to plants, gardens, and the quiet knowledge held in the natural world.
the age of innocence by edith wharton longing, societal change, the fragility of choices. spring’s delicate unraveling.
spring snow by yukio mishima fleeting youth, cherry blossoms, love dissolving with the seasons. it’s beautiful and melancholic.
alice’s adventures in wonderland by lewis carroll whimsical, surreal, and bursting with imagination. spring’s dreamlike curiosity in book form.
maurice by e.m. forster self discovery, love, and rebellion. this is spring as a season of awakening and possibility.
middlemarch by george eliot change, growth, and the slow bloom of understanding. spring’s promise of transformation woven into an intricate social tapestry.
the rest of this newsletter is for paid subscribers.
i’m sharing spring rituals, films, recipes, and other activities to do as we prepare for this new season.
if you’re curious about sampling you can use my link at scent split for a discount on all samples and full size bottles
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