Renewal at Easter

I'm not religious in the traditional sense but I think that today is an important day no matter what religion one practices (or none at all). It's a time of rebirth, regeneration, revival, resurrection. I was just reading up on the Pagan, Jewish and Christian (and even Hindu!) origins and traditions of Easter, all of which have the theme of renewal at their centers.


This is from a Wiccan website that discusses balance and self-discovery at this time of year:

This is a time of tremendous life renewal. Day and night are now equally balanced, but the days are moving in the direction of more light (greater clarity!)

This is a time when we might audit our own lives to check if we also have a healthy balance. This self-audit might include seeking out areas where we require greater inner clarity, greater self-understanding, For example: What kinds of things motivate us? What makes us feel good? What things make us angry or uneasy? Why???

And this is from a Buddhist site that discusses Easter in terms of accepting the different stages & seasons of life--and of course today happens to be about embracing birth and re-birth, which to me is the best stage of all.

Why should we attempt to transcend life and death? Why should we try to stand beyond time? Because to do so means our fear and apprehension of death is gone. It means that our life is fulfilled, whether we live to be 9 or 90. It means that we can truly be one in our hearts with the loved ones we have lost, whether it was last year or fifty years ago. It means that we have the peace of mind to someday leave our loved ones behind when our time too has come. Who is there that would not want to transcend life and death?

I've been doing a lot of self-discovery and have been trying to accept and appreciate my life for what it is. At the same time I've been re-dedicating myself to certain areas of my life that have always been important to me, such as running, writing, and work. So today seemed like an appropriate time to celebrate my life as it is and the new life I'm building for myself.

In particular, yesterday my sister and I signed up for the Nike San Fransisco Women's Marathon in October (at the invitation of one of my co-workers/friends, who is running the half marathon, provided that our group gets in via the lottery system), and my training plan starts tomorrow. I've always been an on-again off-again runner with various levels of consistency and "success," but now I am trying to focus on giving running--and everything else in my life--my all. So I've started this blog to track my running progress as well as my thoughts on life in general.

Here's to new beginnings!  It's a new season and a time for growth. Happy Easter/Passover/Spring Orthodox/Ostara -- whatever today may mean to you.