Wood is the Chinese element for spring: representing the creative urge to achieve. Interestingly the Chinese further explain that this urge to achieve can turn to frustration, even anger. Similar to Western philosophy wood represents growth and expansion, the capacity to look forward, personal growth and expansion.

Initially it struck me as incongruous to associate springtime with anger and frustration. I think many of us connect hope and relief with the season. The drudgery of winter and all that it encompasses is coming to an end. The Common Art participants carry a lighter load; the Café Emmanuel gentlemen choose lighter colors to represent their mood in our group project What Color Are You Today? The Spirituality and Art ladies incorporate nature in bloom into their handmade cards and longer daylight hours ads some natural light to our program room on Monday evenings.

Unlike the other transitional season, springtime is a season of joy and hope. It is with mixed emotion that we enjoy the beauty of fall, knowing that winter is soon to follow. But the Chinese proverb acknowledges that even in the most hopeful of seasons, anger and frustration will also reside. Growth and expansion are rarely smooth processes. Often situations out of our control may interfere, or we may just have a misstep of our own doing.

This traditional Chinese philosophy holds that the element of wood represents all aspects of bodily function that are self-regulating such as our hearts beating enabling our blood flow. Wood energy includes expansive growth and flexibility, which can manifest as both hope and anger – like growing pains.  Consider the energy that it takes for a flower to break through the hard ground!

When I consider friends, my mentors, and myself, everyone I have had the good fortune to meet at during my internship with Emmanuel Church, I am reminded by this proverb that life is never stagnant, that it is constantly in flux. Even lost hope can eventually be found.

— Brianna Babick