The Return of Hope

This is the month of sudden changes…In March,
winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. 
Something holds and something pulls inside of us, too. 
We are caught between two forces and
sometimes nearly torn asunder…
Some days confidence shrinks to the size of a pea,
and the backbone feels like a feather. 
We want to be somewhere else and don’t know where—
want to be someone else and don’t know who.

--Jean Hersey (1902-1993)

American naturalist and author

 

Loveliest friend and reader,

March arrives leaving the last hurrah of winter, and we pray, bringing the first whisper of spring. The barren earth yearns for restoration and renewal like a restless lover looking for reassurance. We search for signs in nature that all will be well while we live through cold nights of uncertainty and cautious days of doubt.

But is there any feeling more thrilling than the return of Hope? How does Hope summon the strength to send her slender shoots up through the dense and rocky soil of disappointment and around the weeds of regret?

I believe Hope is the sap of Mother Earth’s spiritual moxie rising in every stalk, determined to live her destiny, however brief, in fields of gold.  What a brave, plucky, resilient flower is the daffodil.  Her season seems fleeting, yet she returns annually.  Spring may be delayed this year, but she will not disappear.  Since the beginning of creation, Light has always been called forth from the abyss of darkness.  And with every beating heart around the world, we call on the Light to lead, guide and protect us.  We wait for the sun’s return at the spring equinox.

March has always been a personal metaphor for me, representing the enormous mystical expanse between our dreaming and their coming true. 

March can be the go-between between our new dreams and past lives.  Let’s change our minds about change.  It’s here today, gone tomorrow.  Can we lighten up? Luxuriate in the fullness of waiting?  Stop juggling all those balls just long enough to find our balance? 

Why don’t we let Mother Nature nurture. Celebrate new rites of passage.  Cultivate a sacred space.  Enjoy the time-honored custom of making a clean sweep. Let’s weed our closets. Send apparitions packing. Realize you must believe in luck before you can change yours.  Play around with alternative remedies—the color of daffodils, the crisp green of shamrocks, the fragrance of lavendered linens, the aroma of Irish soda bread. Place tiny pots of primroses on the kitchen window-sill.

So, let’s take a deep breath, have a good cry if needs be, laugh at our misalliances, tell a new story, puddle jump over problems, and curate our contentment by finding a new rabbit hole.

My new rescue remedy this month in the Swell Dames Circle is the fascinating exploration of the life of the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie, the best-selling writer of all time with two billion books sold in 100 languages (only the Bible and Shakespeare sold more). There have been so many new revelations about her life – especially her elusive disappearance for eleven days after her husband Archie asked for a divorce on December 3, 1926. It became the biggest search in British history and made international headlines. My curiosity hath runneth over. My immediate thought on discovering the exact date was—Good Lord, he asked for a divorce three weeks before Christmas? Cue Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and Mrs. Ariadne Oliver. The callous bounder was lucky she didn’t murder him.  I think this conversation will be so much fun and fascinating.  So bring your Agatha Christie questions –was her disappearance because of betrayal, amnesia or publicity stunt? and we’ll have a grand evening on March 12, 2026.

I adore Dame Agatha Christie—she truly is in my personal pantheon of Swell Dames because after her annus horribilis she left all the mystery on the page and enjoyed another glorious fifty years of happiness. She left some clues for us.  Let’s follow them.

Sending blessings on you and yours,

Dearest love,

Sarah Ban Breathnach

She Was Her Own Greatest Mystery!

Swell Dames Circle for March 12th

Agatha Christie and The Mystery of a Happy Life

 

"Nobody in the world was more inadequate

to act the heroine than I was." --Agatha Christie

 

For over 60 years, Agatha Christie perfectly played the little old lady who wrote cozy mysteries when not

knitting or gardening. But behind her 66 detective novels, 15 short-story collections, 16 plays, and 6

Romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott lived a thoroughly modern woman who sailed around

the world, loved fast cars, surfing, and archaeology digs.

 

Join Sarah Ban Breathnach as she discusses the hidden clues that helped Agatha Christie create a beloved old lady public persona

and a happy private life.

Reserve your seat today.

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