Feeling Dionysian?

"But for the most part he is portrayed as just a fun loving guy (or god). The kind you would like to have at just about any party." 

Ah springtime! Yesterday was a fine example of a fine day in (what is my opinion) the finest time of the year! There are many ways to see it coming - and not just by watching Mother Nature waking up from her deep winter slumber. People start to "push the season" by wearing warm weather clothes, even if the thermometer says it is still only 40 degrees; kids tend to play their music louder; some people (not me of course) tend to drive a bit faster; and yes, many of us start to feel a bit Dionysian.

What the heck is feeling Dionysian? In short, it is a term taken from the Greek god Dionysus. Over the years, his name has gotten somewhat of a bad rap. Like totally equated with pleasure. That would be hedonism, another concept started by an ancient Greek (Aristippus). Hedonism simply means "pleasure for the sake of pleasure." Or as Aristippus is rumored to have said, "pleasure is the highest good".

Feeling Dionysian does have a sensual aspect to it, but it is the ying to the yang of what the Greek god Apollo taught. Instead of being measured and controlled, feeling Dionysian is to "let it all hang out". Or what I like to say - feeling springtime! It is true that Dionysus often was portrayed drinking wine and eating grapes - and sometimes practicing orgiastic or debaucherous type of behaviors. But for the most part, he is portrayed as just a fun loving guy (or god). The kind you would like to have at just about any party.

Back to springtime. Our entertainment and arts are replete with how we react to springtime. For example, James Michener wrote a book called Fires of Spring. It is a romance novel about a young man right set right before World War II. Some think it might have been autobiographical. Then there is the song about the best month of spring (May) from the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot. "It's May, it's May, that lusty month of May."

Today will be another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Things are greening up so fast, they change almost daily. The smell of the earth waking up is like no other time of the year. For many, spring is always synonymous with new life, whereas winter is often called "the dead of winter". Springtime is when going for a walk, a run, a bike ride or just acting like you are 10 years younger is more the norm than not. 

There is some bad news in this equation. These fresh days of low humidity, great fragrances, and bug free pleasure are soon going to give way to hot, hazy and humid days with more bugs than you can shake a stick at. The freshness of this season will slowly fade into the dog days of summer. And then as quickly as it started, the end will be in sight. The first frost, the changing of the leaves, and then....the first cold blast from old man winter.

So enjoy these days folks, no matter how fleeting. For just these very few days of early spring, we really have caught lightening in a bottle. It is just too bad we cannot save some of that lightening for later in the year.