I’ve spent too many hours this past week working on something so mundane—and yet this unexpected little challenge got me thinking about nature's own determination to grow and change.

This should be simple, right? I was searching for someone to make a new version of Eu2Be’s recyclable bag. The current bags were custom-made in the USA and we intend to keep it that way, with a US-based manufacturer.  

Met with a daily chorus of “sorry, not possible, wish we could help,” I was at first frustrated, on edge—and then suddenly encouraged and inspired by the hardiness and determination of the first plants of spring outside my window.  

Growing beyond the current iteration of you takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes, often under a cloak of darkness, amidst the cold of uncertainty.  

Spring is like that—although March’s greenery seems to pop up out of nowhere, the truth is it takes a lot of hard work!

Just think of all the changes, realized and hoped for, that we bring to this time of year. 

We change our clocks to synchronize with the light. And is it coincidence that whole nations change around this time of year? The Arab Spring and even the French Revolution pushed forth in spring. 

Becoming a sprig doesn’t happen overnight or in one act, and perhaps this is why these first plants of spring are the most spectacular to me.

“Not everything that is
   faced can be changed, but 
     nothing can be changed
        until it is faced.“

— James Baldwin

The truth is we are made, things are made, and things come about by facing change—and too often we give in to our own challenges before we've given ourselves a chance to evolve and grow.

It’s what we give our attention to that makes each of us custom-made.

Indeed, bespoke is all the rage because we recognize the beauty of the self-made, the personal expression that lies behind every custom-made good.

And I believe all living things respond to the universal yearning to be whole, to be custom-made.

Spring’s sprouting hellebores know nothing of efficiency and outcomes. And yet, they break through expertly and deftly, blossoming forth from an inner root system nourished by moisture and light. 

If we’re not paying attention to the slow, mysterious way life unfolds, the message in those beautiful, delicate green shoots is easy to miss.

Few of us relish change, yet we are all hardwired for growth.

We can have faith that growth will prevail. And even in small doses, when becoming our next iterative self, it’s our attentive efforts that get us there.

Too often we bow out or beg off long before our present self has a chance to evolve into our prospective, custom-made, better-version self.

None of us need settle for the status quo. And like the green sprigs of March pushing up through the muck, nourished by a rich root system of ideas and rituals, we too can spring forward.

So yes, I’ve finally got a brand new bag in the works—and you can make progress too.

The natural flow of life assures us that we are never trapped in any single version of our self—we get a do-over at the start of every day, every season and every year.

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We love colorful street art—and this one of the fine San Francisco Balmy Street murals shot by Eu2Be founder Charla Jones on one of her frequent trips to Bay Area.

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