"Preventing May Blues": A "Spring Deep Breath" for Adults and Children to Reset the Mind by Touching the Soil
I am Matsumoto, the director of Aikuru Nursery School. The long holiday ends today. This time of year is a season when we are prone to feeling a heaviness in our minds and bodies—the so-called "May Blues"—where the effects of environmental changes and fatigue suddenly surface.
For all of you working hard every day, aren't there moments when you feel a bit unsettled? Precisely because we are in such a time, I would like to explore some hints to gently lighten our hearts, inspired by the way the children at Aikuru Nursery School behaved during their seedling planting.
Time to create "white space" in our busy days
The other day, we planted summer vegetable seedlings with the children at the nursery. Watching them get soil on their small hands and dig holes with all their might, I realized that they are truly focused only on "this very moment."
Adults tend to have their minds filled with future concerns, such as tomorrow's schedule or yesterday's regrets. Under the clear May sky, the time the children spent innocently playing with the soil looked like a very luxurious and peaceful "white space," slightly removed from the daily grind where efficiency and results are demanded.
"The same as yesterday" supports the heart
When your heart feels unstable, like with the May Blues, it might be better to cherish a consistent rhythm rather than trying to do something special. Every day, the children water the seedlings and ask, "Are you doing well today?"
Plants grow slowly. There are no dramatic changes, but the children water them just like they did yesterday and watch over them in the same way. That repetitive rhythm gives the children a sense of security. For us adults, too, such unchanging habits and time spent close to the pace of nature should be a trigger to gently regulate our often-disrupted autonomic nervous systems.
The kindness of not demanding immediate results
At this time of year, do you ever push yourself in a new environment, thinking, "I have to get used to this quickly" or "I have to produce results"? However, just as a newly planted seedling does not bear fruit immediately, our hearts also need a preparation period to take root.
Perhaps this is a time to just stay still in the soil. Even so, just like the seedlings that are absorbing water little by little every day, the efforts you are accumulating daily are firmly building roots in places that cannot be seen. I feel as if the small seedlings are teaching us that it is okay to take our time and value our own pace right now.
By walking together, the weight is halved
When planting seedlings, a watering can that is too heavy for one person becomes light when held together with a friend. If you feel that something in your work or life is "a bit heavy" right now, please do not carry it alone.
Just as the children at the nursery share the joy of growing vegetables, I hope that we adults can also hold hands with those around us, help each other, and walk through this May slowly.
Just as small seedlings gradually become stronger while being blown by rain and wind, this time of pausing will surely lead to a rich harvest in the autumn. I am rooting for you so that your every day may be wrapped in at least a little bit of gentle light.