Vernal Break

SATURDAY. Large signboards in front of public schools in Albuquerque announce the Easter holiday with two words: "Vernal Break." This is a new one for me. In a city that's predominantly Christian, I'm not sure why the word "Easter" was pre-empted for the secular "Vernal."


According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "vernal" has Indo-European roots deriving from the word meaning "spring." Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the full moon following the Vernal Equinox. No matter what your religious or spiritual tradition, there's no argument that this time of year is all about new beginnings, new growth and a fresh start.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the idea of starting over. In a sense, every moment is a point of empowerment where a fresh start is possible. Louise Hay tells us, "The point of power is in the present moment." This implies an incredible dynamism in our lives: there is virtually no end to unlimited newness with every breath we take. Yet for many on this planet, change is elusive. Familiar, comfortable old ways protect us from the pressures of a relentlessly-advancing technological society that fosters physical isolation in service of electronic communication. Are we really alone? My inner voice says no, we are all connected in spite of the illusion of separation. Humankind hungers deeply for understanding and renewal at many different levels.

Spring comes much earlier in Albuquerque than in the Northeast. Much of March was warm and breezy, but this morning snowflakes fell for several hours, reminding me again that I'm not in Florida anymore. It was cold and windy this morning, as a massive cold front moved through New Mexico. I trust (and pray) this was winter's last gasp.

Murphy and Telly don't care. They adapt to any temperature and don't seem to mind the wind and snow. Telly spends her days chasing little white moths that flit from weed to weed in the back yard. Murphy is content to lie in the sun and dream about swimming.

I've spent the last three days working on websites and setting up MySpace pages for myself and a client. I never quite understood the MySpace concept, but now that I'm up to my eyeballs in it, I'm fascinated and intrigued by this internet community. Nearly 170 million people have MySpace pages. The more I explore it, the more hooked I become. The world is much smaller online. The drawback is that it's very addictive.

There's a new kid in the blogosphere. It's called Twitter. This service caters to "microblogging" -- blogging (or writing) in 140 characters or less. It's done in real time, kind of like text messaging, and your message is sent to the entire Twitter community so everyone knows what you're doing at that moment. Microblog: "I'm eating a chocolate chip cookie. It's good." Microblog: "I'm sleepy. I think I'll take a nap." Are we so self-absorbed we think others need to know this stuff? Is it important that complete strangers know our bathroom habits? Has humankind regressed to age twelve? Some people have way too much time on their hands.

More distressing, however, is that this may be symptomatic of an alienated society whose members long for connection. Blackberries, emails and iPODS have taken the place of face-to-face interactions. We are becoming a nation of isolated strangers desperately seeking anonymous ways to reconnect. Have we forgotten how good it feels to look into someone's eyes and communicate without a keyboard?

In this moment of self-renewal, on the day before the "Vernal Holiday," I vow to never microblog. I promise to change my socks every day so my feet feel renewed. I will accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. I will never feed my dogs Old Roy. And of course, I'll brush after every meal.

However, I will probably always be a nerd, so it's futile to try to change that aspect of my personality. I took a test today that confirmed my nerdiness.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and Happy Vernal Break to all. May you all rejoice in rebirth and renewal that Spring offers us every year.