Renewal

The recent warmer weather accelerated my feeling of renewal that happens every spring.

The flowers are rushing to bloom, the leaves are bursting from their buds and the air smells cleaner and fresher. We even saw the sun for a couple days here in Seattle.

The older I get the more I appreciate the sense of renewal that happens this time of year. When I was younger, the days rolled by one by one, weeks took a full week to pass and tomorrows seemed endless.

Now, as the passing days, weeks and months total nearly four score years of living on this earth, my days spin by quickly. Sunday barely gets going before Saturday pops up and the months pass like weeks did in years past.

I think this apparent speed is caused by accumulating memories that blend current observations with the old. I seldom see a genuinely new thing unless I search for it. The temptation is to go with the same old emotions, fit new sights into the old and categorize the passing scene as, “the same old, same old.” Only if I set out to find a new shape, color or idea nearly hidden in the smoke screen of old memories can I find something that stimulates a new question or thought.

Not saying that old memories are bad, just that they should be used with discretion. As I get older I find refuge in some of those old memories of gentler and happier times when time passed slower and multiple blinking, beeping, talking and vibrating electronic things weren’t competing for my attention. The bad memories tend to be forgotten so it's a pleasure to run the mental cursor over the pleasant old memories, savoring them like a special dessert, but I try to remember that the new is important also. In fact the new is a big part of reNEWal.

Over the years I’ve tried to stay in shape by exercising but this year brought a new opportunity. I started a formal yoga class. At first my old brain tried to fit the new exercises and poses into memories of similar exercises but as I concentrated on the differences, gradually new muscles began to quiver and newly stressed joints began to ache. Then, as the new became clear, new memories, instead of being blended, were added to the old. Time slowed, I began to observe different things and, looking back, the hour of yoga exercises seemed like half a day of memories.

My walks with Kuro allow the same kind of observations, but only if I take advantage and look for things. As we walk along the day’s route, Kuro is always looking for new things so I try to take a page from his book and see what I can see that is new. Sure enough, as I look more closely, ignoring those tempting memories, new things pop up.

Some people we pass are engrossed in their electronic devices, catching up on emails or Facebook or maybe the latest headlines. I figure those things can wait until we get home. Better to find something new in the always new spring scene. Even from one day to the next, IF you look, there are differences that won’t be visible until next year, if then.

I say, “embrace renewal,” not only of our physical surroundings but also of the brain. If I let them, new sights and changing scenes can bring new thoughts and memories, rejuvenating a tired old brain and body.