abandoned

I know that the beginnings of Spring should offer signs of hope and promise. I imagine kids swinging on playgrounds...playing hide and seek...anticipating all that summer has waiting for them. When I walk outside for even ten minutes, I can smell hints of optimism in the air as winter sheds its cold embrace. The sound of birds chirping keep reminding me to abandon my old and tired ways...they keep reminding me to be inspired...they keep reminding me to let go of the past and seize the future. I can feel that new life is on the horizon...and yet, when I intentionally search for new life, I am confronted with emptiness.

Old, rusty, desolate playgrounds such as the one in mthoodmama's photo...where are the children? Where are the flowers? Where is the laughter and the joy and the spirit that I thought I'd find here? Children have a way of bringing color into our lives. They see the world in a much better light than I think we do as adults. So where are they? It's possible that my eyes have deceived me, but it all seems black and white to me. 

Perhaps if I simply close my eyes for a moment...then reopen, the skies would lift their clouds. The rain would disappear and life would re-emerge as though I was seeing it through a child's eyes. That's the Spring I have been waiting for these past few months and that's the Spring I shall imagine. For "Spring in Black and White" is less about what our eyes see and more about whether or not our hearts are open to the possibilities of a life in vibrant color. Are you open?

Until next time,
Ashley of Ramblings and Photos

abandoned by mthoodmama