Word of the Day: Spring
Today is the Spring Equinox, the astronomical first day of Spring. Here in the Colorado mountains it is unusually warm and bird songs fill the air.
This year spring feels different for me. It hasn’t snowed much here which is atypical for winter. Some of the physical markers of winter weren’t present, though the energetic qualities remained. This has me in reflection around what seasonal words really mean and how they have evolved over time.
As spring begins there is an energy of potential, of things soon to bloom, like a mechanical spring ready to expand. Where does the word spring come from and what does it really mean? How does this meaning relate to the seasons? Let’s explore.
spring (verb) :
move or jump suddenly or rapidly forward or upward
originate or arise from; to come into being
spring (noun) :
the season after winter and before summer
a place where water naturally flows out from the ground
a piece of curved metal than can be pressed into a smaller space but will return to to its original shape after it has been pressed
something’s ability to return to its original shape after it has been pressed
The word spring comes from Old English springan meaning “to leap, jump.” Other meanings include “burst forth” and “fly up; spread, grow.” Springan comes from the Proto-Germanic word sprenganan. It is commonly believed that the PIE root is *sprengh- or *spergh- meaning “to move, hasten, spring.”
Spring shows up as the name of a season with early terms “springing time” and “spring of the year.” Spring was considered to be the first season of the year, when plants begin to rise from the soil and bud. In the seasonal sense, spring meant “act or time of springing or appearing; the first appearance; the beginning, birth, rise, or origin.”
There are multiple different but related definitions of spring. Each seems to speak to a sense of motion, of jumping, bursting forth, flowing, spreading, and/or growing. Seasonally, spring is a time for new growth in terms of physical plant life. Mechanically, springs bounce forward or upward when compressed. Aquatically, a spring is the place where water begins to flow from the ground. Spring can also be seen as a beginning; new life coming into being.
In physics, springs store potential energy. When compressed, twisted, or extended this potential energy converts into kinetic energy and the spring exerts a force in the opposite direction, attempting to return to its natural length. Energetically and spiritually, I like to think of the mechanical spring as a metaphor. When forces push down on us, we access our stored potential to expand and to take action that brings us into our true and natural expression. We bounce back.
If spring is the first season of the year, then winter is the last. With longer nights and cooler temperatures, winter is a time of rest and hibernation. In spring, we burst forth from rest and arise. Things begin to move and hasten.
Personally, there are many things that have been on ice for me. Ideas paused for future sharing and creation. Today I invite the energy of spring to breathe fresh life into all of these ideas, projects, and visions. Seeing as how I haven’t actively shared any writing since last year, I begin with this post. I invite you to join me by allowing any of your own creations to spring forth. What is coming into being for you this season?
