What Spring Teaches Us About Timing, Healing, and Showing Up in Ours
From the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles | 4/27/25
This week’s Sunday Self-Care Chronicles explores what spring has to teach us about personal pace, permission, and healing — especially in a world that loves to hand us timelines.
This week’s issue touches on:
✨ A reflection from my garden.
✨ Challenging conventional recovery milestones.
✨ Simple, seasonal ways to come back into rhythm with your body — without the pressure to bloom on demand.
Read the full email below - and if something speaks to you please feel free to comment, share, or reach out!
Hey sweet friend,
Let’s talk about spring and the unexpected pressure it might bring.
For a lot of us, this time of year brings a whisper (or a full-blown shout) that it’s time to do something.
Declutter. Reboot. Reinvent yourself. Bounce back. Show up. Shine!
But here’s what I believe:
Spring doesn’t demand anything.
It invites. It thaws. It stirs. It asks gently — “Is it time?”
And just like the trees don’t all bloom on the same day, you don’t have to either.
🌸 Nature doesn’t rush — and neither should you
Each year I look forward to the different flowers in my garden making their first appearances.
First up it's the purple crocuses closely followed by the golden daffodils (my favorite!).
Next is typically the bright red tulips with the delicate pink bleeding hearts and hearty blue irises close on their heels.
As those blooms fade, the orange poppies are raising their heads, and the quiet lavender buds are starting their summer long stay, ready to last through fall.
But what's fascinating is that even though they always follow the same pattern it doesn't always happen at the same time of the year.
This was a very cold, very snowy winter for us, and spring is taking its time. Where in past years I've seen tulip stalks 6 inches above ground in February, it took until early April for the crocuses to show up and my very first daffodil just let me know this week that it's yellow bloom is coming.
While I can count on them to appear in their beautiful orderly rainbow I cannot force them to show up on any particular schedule.
⏳ The pressure to heal on someone else’s timeline
In cancer recovery — and in life — we are constantly handed timelines.
“You’ll be back to work in 6 weeks.”
“You can resume exercise at 4 weeks.”
“You’re NED — time to move on.”
And sometimes that might be true — if so GREAT, run with it and enjoy every minute!
But often? Your body isn’t caught up yet. Your emotions haven’t landed. Your soul is still somewhere back on the exam table.
This is one of the biggest gaps I see in conventional care:
There’s a timeline for procedures, but no timeline for healing.
No permission to honor your seasons — even when they don't match the calendar.
So what does this have to do with spring? Everything.
The shift into spring isn’t about powering through. It’s about paying attention.
And maybe that’s your invitation too.
🌱 A spring reset that actually honors your body:
Choose one gentle way to engage with this season — not from pressure, but from partnership. Here's a few ideas:
Walking outdoors, just to move your limbs and breathe something real
Replacing one scroll session with a few pages of a book
A warm compress on a sore spot or an easy stretch to start or end your day — no urgency, just encouragement
Cleaning one corner of your space because it feels good — not because it’s on a checklist
💭 Something to consider:
Where have you been told to “move on” before you were ready? And what would it feel like to move with yourself instead of ahead of yourself this season?
For me lately, it’s meant releasing the need to “be consistent” with my morning walks.
Right now I'm feeling like a fair weather walker and that's ok. If the sun isn't shining or it's just too damn cold then count me out — I'm choosing the extra sleep.
Because I know the days are coming when sun and warmth will be the rule, not the exception — and my body will rise to meet them.
You can share this with me or just reflect on it for yourself for now.
☕️ I’d love to hear from you:
Hit reply and tell me what spring is stirring in you — even if the answer is “absolutely nothing.” Whether something is shifting (or not), I'm cheering you on.
With breath, movement, and full permission to go at your pace, I'm always in this with you.
P.S. Want to go deeper with this?
Last spring, I shared some ideas for spring cleaning as it relates to living with a breast cancer experience. It's actionable, relevant, and invites you to think beyond the ingredient labels.
👉 Read it here