I’m pretty excited that Spring has arrived in Sydney!
As I write this my window
is open, and I can smell the heady, intoxicating scent from the jasmine flowering outside. The sun is shining and summer is on it’s way! I can hear lots of baby birds tweeting and I feel more energetic and positive! I’ve illustrated this blog with some images I’ve taken on my mobile of Nature in all her Springtime splendour around my North Shore art studio and counselling space. I’ve also added some photos of the beautiful wildflowers that are blossuming in the native bush around Sydney right now.
This is a great time of year to Review, Refresh and Renew. Spring is a great time for new beginnings! How can you Review your space and your life and refresh and renew? 
Spring is inextricably linked in our body and mind with HOPE. As the days get longer and there is more daylight our bodies produce more serotonin. People who have hope in their lives are much more likely to make proactive changes to benefit themselves than people with no hope.
Spring brings about healing; like the end of Seasonal Affective Disorder as well as more Vitamin D being produced in our bodies. In a recent study it was found that HIV+ individuals who were more hopeful, were less likely to miss doses of medication, and were independently rated by their case manager as more committed to sustaining their 
health.
I thought I’d quote Anthony Scioli and his thoughts about Spring. Scioli is a professor of psychology at Keene State College in America.
“Spring restores nature’s niches, calling out the hibernating land animals, and offering a homecoming to hundreds of bird species as well as the humpback whales that left their breeding grounds for the winter. As human beings, we too are called back to nature, to walk, hike, work in the yard, and prepare the deck or patio for a second home under the open sky.
Hope is also linked to a trusted bond. A good attachment is the linchpin which 
fuels all of the other hopes of humanity (mastery, survival, and spirituality). Until quite recently, psychology has paid little attention to the human need for contact with nature. A rare exception was Rollo May who suggested there is inevitable regret when human beings go too long without an immersion in nature. In an intriguing book on personality theory, Robert Hogan noted that humans often go to great lengths to recreate a replica of the green temperate context from which they evolved. Environmental psychology, a relatively new field, is now reinforcing these in
sights. One study showed that children attending a school with windows overlooking nature were less aggressive, less likely to be labeled as “ADD”, and more attentive in the classroom.
Spring calls us back to nature, fills our sails with warmer winds, soothes our weary bones, and lifts our spirits. Spring is full of psychic potential because it satisfies the four basic motives that underlie hope. Perhaps this is what prompted Bern Williams to offer one of most succinct reflections on hope and spring: “The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created spring.”
Happy Springtime to my Southern Hemisphere friends!
What a great time to start making some positive changes for yourself. If you would like to coincide the beginning of Spring with some counselling with me, please get in touch! I’d love to hear from you!