Celebrations in Spring: Bookish Edition

An ambling sun. Budding flora. A wind, quiet and placid, welcoming you into spring. More than the bearer of the new season, March is National Reading Month, making it a double invitation for the revitalization of our joy and energy. Accept the invitation and cherish life’s vivacity through a celebration of books.

Amidst the ink in books is a hallmark of our human experience–stories. Stories that remind us of our interconnectedness and its many, sometimes subtle, forms: through roots buried deep, branches growing and reaching, or a leaf swept up to some distant neighbor’s yard, where a child thinks it looks just the right color, just the shape they were looking for, and places it into a notebook to dry and keep. Our experiences intertwined like natural cycles.

What stories have you read and tucked into fondness? What books have you forgotten? Perhaps you’ll scour through memories and pluck out one particular story, the most special one for you to celebrate. Or maybe you’ll reminisce about childhood books, the pictures, and silly rhymes, now missed and missing from shelves.

It could be more than that, too. Celebrate the community: the writers that resonate, the book rants to friends, the critique and analyses from accounts you don’t even know on Tumblr, the spirited teachers sharing their love for language, the fanart and fanfics, the heartfelt talks of characters and plots where that glimmer of spring arises and laces you into belonging.

That connection to books–and through books–can sometimes waver. Burnout, even with something we love, can happen. You might find that a celebration, whether as an event or a personal reflection, can serve as an opportunity to re-engage with that initial excitement toward books, stories, or language. It could help lift some fatigue, reawaken senses, or even kickstart the joy all over again.

For those who need a little more slumber, who may not feel up to celebrating just yet, know that rest shows appreciation, too. To rest is to take care of one’s self and joys. Not every flower blooms in spring, but all seasons hold life.

Choose however you’d like to delight in the book-love! And let spring remind you each year of this treasured connection.