I love Spring.
It’s Spring in the southern hemisphere now. The newness, the green shoots, the insects hatching after a long slumber as larvae, colourful flowers, the abundant life, the animals giving birth to youngsters, the warmer temperatures, the rain, the clouds, the dramatic sunrises …. it’s a great time of year.
Harriet Ann Jacobs said,
The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.“
I love this particular Spring, this year, even more than usual. The travel and tourism industry; like the season, is pushing out new life, new hope, new opportunities. I’ve been in meetings over the last month, where I’ve come out rejuvenated and regenerated. We’re slowly putting our foot back on the gas, and the “pause / on ice / wait and see” energy is fast disintegrating.
Finally!
I don’t think that it’s going to be a quick fix. We’re not going to sail off into the sunset, guns blazing. Not straight away anyway. COVID is not going to suddenly disappear, and we’ll be experiencing waves of it into the near future, perhaps indefinitely. Who knows the exact timelines? Even the most conservative and pessimistic estimations of the pandemic have been proven wrong, time and time again.
But what an amazing feeling to have an email inbox that works again! Mine wasn’t broken, but months and months of no new emails, no new safari enquiries, and no good news has started to erode. It’s being replaced by all the positive energy that we’ve been used to over the last few decades in the travel industry.
This Spring I’ve thought about all of the good that has emerged the world over during the last 20 months. I’ve thought about all the good things that have come my way personally, and all the good things that have benefitted the planet at large. All of these changes that we’ve been forced to make, initially filling us with angst and worry, have all been for the better. Our lives have been enriched by the time that COVID brought us. Certainly, my life is now simpler, as I now embrace minimalism to the core. And being forced into selling material items, to pay school fees and food, has liberated me to no end.
The less you have, the happier you are. It’s pretty simple really.
I think about being financially poor right now, although that will change next year. I’ve never been this financially poor, but I’ve never been emotionally richer. The special times I spent with my daughter – the days and weeks and months we spent together. I no longer traveled, and no longer missed milestones in her life, which at age 4 come thick and fast! Special times indeed. It’ll be difficult to replicate that anytime again soon.
So this Spring is such an incredible time for me personally, and for the tourism industry, and for the planet. Love the Spring of 2021. Embrace the newness, the green shoots and the positive energy it brings. Breathe it in, enjoy the sunrises. Love Spring.
