Each spring, I eagerly await the change in weather—more time outside, the emergence of pussywillow buds, forsythia blossoms and the dramatic pink flowers on the redbud tree. Daffodils and tulips deliver a bit of sunshine to the sometimes chilly and cloudy days, and the sound of birds in the morning starts my heart singing. It’s the time of year that evokes a sense of hope and renewal, a creative burst and a fresh perspective. Everything is waking up. Everything feels new again.

Our focus this April is on our sacred Earth, and our stories encourage us to consider ways that we can bring health and healing to the natural world. We can each do our part, starting in our own backyards and neighborhoods with native plants, replacing invasive plants and non-native ornamentals with trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers that create habitats and eco-systems for beneficial insects and pollinators, butterflies and birds to thrive. In our Earth Day feature, Pennsylvania resident, educator, author and native plant expert Doug Tallamy calls us to consider the almost immediate impact that transitioning our backyards and private and public green spaces to native habitats can have on thousands of species of insects and animals. You’ll find his wisdom woven elsewhere in our pages as we highlight the call to “rewild” areas of mown grass to reclaim a more natural and healthy ecosystem.

Moving into spring, it is impossible to talk about healing our world without acknowledging all of those who are hurting and afraid. We are all connected and affected in ways known and unexpected by the violence and devastation happening to our fellow beings in Ukraine and elsewhere. Feelings of helplessness are commonplace.

Yet we all have the ability to use our creative urges and talents to do what we can with what we have. Along with checking on our immigrant neighbors, sending goods and funds through reputable agencies and raising awareness, we can simply be a place of peace within ourselves. In the midst of great turmoil and chaos, Holocaust victim Elly Hillesum had this perspective—“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.”

What I have learned is that it is possible to be both happy (and creative, inspired, hopeful and peaceful) and sad (and overwhelmed and concerned, and driven to action). We can hold all of these emotions and responses simultaneously, and in doing so, feel the sacred fractured wholeness of our humanity.

We trust this month’s issue will support your own and our collective health and happiness, and offer inspiration as we move through the next few months of spring. In our uncertain world, there is one thing that stays true; seasons change and time moves on, and we can do our part to create better days ahead for all the beings on our beautiful planet.

Kendra Campbell and Jacqueline Mast, Co-Publishers