New Season, New Year, New Me

Happy Equinox! And also Happy Nowruz (Iranian New Year)!

I don't know what it is, but over the past few days I've detected a noticeable change in... well... everything. The sun in shining, trees and flowers are blossoming, my little herb garden has started to sprout, and the other day I heard little songbirds outside. Honestly! I live by a motorway and a major train line and yet somewhere there are birds singing their hearts out. I love it.

Everyone seems happier too. B and I went down to Tipperary for an extended weekend (he took Monday off since Tuesday, St Patrick's Day, is a holiday in Ireland) and had a wonderful time with his parents. Although the first couple of days were a bit grey, we went out to the gardens at Birr Castle for a nice long walk, and the next day we drove round and round the countryside, and up into the Slieve Bloom mountains. St Patrick's Day was bright and sunny, and so we went into town to watch the parade. Everyone was happy and smiling, with none of the drunken horrors that we could have expected in Dublin.

It was perfect, and I've got the photos to prove it.

Since we got back I feel like I've got a new lease on life. Sure, I'm still jobhunting and collecting enough rejection letters to wallpaper our apartment, but I'm also getting a better idea of what I want to do with my life. I'm really excited about my upcoming evening course in Public Relations and Event Management too, as I know it'll help me on my path to getting what I want out of life (particularly career-wise). I've also found a brilliant recruitment agency who genuinely want to do everything they can to help me find a job, which was a huge boost to my self-esteem and self-confidence yesterday.

It's as if the last few months were a kind of "hibernation", where I was able to take a "time out" on my life, reflect, reassess, and then come out strong and revitalised.

I guess that's the whole point of spring, and of Nowruz. I think these guys might be on to something. Celebrating the New Year at the moment when (at least the northern half of) the world comes out of a long, dark, cold season and into light, rebirth and warmth does make a lot of sense!