She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined. – Erin Hanson

I spent most of the day yesterday readying my home for spring. While I haven’t begun tidying up my outdoor space yet (that will probably be next weekend’s big undertaking), I did create some indoor floral arrangements and refresh my table decor, as well as tending to a few other odds-and-ends to make my home feel lighter and brighter. 

I’ve noticed that, the older I get, the more I embrace the seasons, the more deeply I enjoy the rejuvenating effects of spring, and the more I look forward to these kinds of rituals to usher in the season. Indeed, as I was decorating yesterday, I found myself thinking of the spirit of springtime within. That is a concept and an energy that resonates very deeply with me and one that I felt myself embracing as I was creating a spirit of springtime all around me.

The “Woman of the Flowers” is that spirit. As an archetype, she looks a bit like the goddess, Persephone, or the maiden found in fairytales, though I think she also has a touch of dryad, or fairy-like, magic. With the advent of spring, I thought it might be worth sharing a brief self-fashioning narrative that celebrates her energy.

But, before I begin, a few quick words: I didn’t realize how much I needed my own myth until now. I needed the goddess—not a loose collection of goddesses and stories that represent different aspects of the feminine, but the total goddess, the origin story and its representation in the seed of life. I needed a personal myth, a whole story that was my own. It’s made me think differently, made me look at myself, even overlooked aspects of myself, as being reflections of the divine. In a way, it makes me feel closer to God—like a more cosmic, universal being. I am grateful for that.

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The woman of the flowers is an embodiment of eternal spring. She is a source of awe, of wonder, and childlike curiosity within me. She is graceful, gentle, and delicate. She is peace. She believes in magic.

The woman of the flowers is the divine art of feminine play in action: she is the seed of eternal youth that blossoms even in maturity.  She infuses my life with beauty. She is, in some respects, a call to beauty—to see with fresh eyes, to be filled with inspiration, to create with abandon. 

For her, nature overflows with life and magic. Every forest is an enchanted forest, every garden in perpetual bloom. She becomes part of the life of every creature she meets. 

The woman of the flowers is unbridled soul. She is innocent and untamed, unjaded and resistant to the hardships of the physical world. As such, she is a source of resilience in my life. She reminds me that I have control over my perspective in every situation. She is also an invitation to continually renew myself through imagination, creativity, and a playful spirit.

The woman of the flowers is a call to treat myself and others gently, to return to a purer state, to walk softly on the earth. She is youth and enchantment. She is nature’s eternal flower.