Though not my favorite season, there is something irresistible about spring. At the end of winter, I feel my soul thirst for spring’s freshness, like nearing the end of a long run and desiring more fervently with every stride, the glorious prospect of an ice-cold glass of water. When spring arrives, I wonder how I ever lived in a world where trees have no pink blossoms and breezes have no warm caressing sweetness to their touch. In the spring, the impossible becomes less so, and stress melts into little streams of dissolved worries that trickle out of our lives and are eventually evaporated by the mercy of the shining sun.

I could never live in a place where there is no anticipation of changing seasons. An overdose of any weather, however luscious or bitter, would surely make me ill. I need the seasons. They are dependable joys to which I look forward. Though they might come late, they always eventually come and fulfill their promises.

There is so much in life to anticipate, particularly from the perspective of young men and women in their 20s, but there is little on which we can absolutely depend to never let us down. Therefore, along with anticipation of the plethora of potential joys that bombard the mind, we must allow room to acknowledge and appreciate the simple things. The dependability of their delightful power does not falter.

The changing of the seasons is one such simplicity on which we can depend and to which we look forward. The seasons teach us to live in a way of constant contentment; for however cold and slushy it is today, we know that tomorrow, whether literally or figuratively, spring is coming. We can appreciate today for what it is because tomorrow guarantees new life. There is a whisper in the wind that promises we will be able to discard our boots and walk barefoot soon enough. We can depend on it.

Another example I want to mention one of spring’s dependable promises particular to the Villanova community because in its example appreciation blooms for another simplicity. With the arrival of the warmer weather, Villanova students can depend upon the elderly priests and monks from the monastery coming out to sit on the benches by the chapel. I first noticed them my freshman year and wondered about what it must be like for old life to live surrounded by new life on a college campus. I thought it must be exhilarating, but as I shifted my attention from the old men sitting on the benches to the young men and women scurrying to and from Tolentine, I observed the majority of the students did not even acknowledge the existence of the priests and monks. Practically no one took pains to twist his or her neck to see the old men sitting there. Nearly no one waved. No one even smiled. Perhaps no one cared, but maybe those who did not smile or say hello walked by because they did not understand the magnitude of joy a simple gesture like a smile could have manifested in both themselves and the old men on the benches. All it takes is a smile and a hello to illuminate old, tired faces. With one smile, you can make their day, and the smile they reflect back at you will make yours. You can depend on it.

Smiles are like the seasons in their dependability. They promise simple ecstasy, and they provide it. In your appreciation of simplicity lies your sanity. Life makes more sense when you pay attention to the simple things. You can depend on it.

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Georgie Hunt is a sophomore English major from Pomfret, Conn. She can be reached at [email protected].