Emerging into Spring: Preparing the Road to Nelson
As March arrives, the subtle shift from winter to spring begins to reveal itself. Days grow a little longer, the air softens, and beneath the surface of frozen ground, new life quietly prepares to emerge. This time of year often mirrors the inner rhythms of learning and creative practice. After months of study, reflection, and steady effort, we find ourselves at a turning point, one that invites us to pause, take stock, and prepare for the final stretch ahead.
For many students and those apart of the Kutenai Art Therapy Institute community, March reading week offers a rare and valuable moment to slow down. It is an opportunity not only to catch up on readings or assignments, but also to reflect on how far we have come and where we are heading next. The pace of academic life can sometimes carry us forward quickly, but reading week offers space to breathe, integrate learning, and reconnect with the intentions that first brought us to the field of art therapy.
This period of reflection can be especially meaningful as we approach the final weeks of the semester. The last month and a half of the school year often brings both excitement and intensity. We have projects coming to completion, practicum experiences deepening, and ideas beginning to take shape in new ways. Taking time now to pause allows the learning of the past months to settle and transform into insight.
Spring itself offers a powerful metaphor for this stage of the journey. Just as seeds require time beneath the soil before they break through the surface, the knowledge, experiences, and creative explorations developed throughout the year begin to take root. What once felt uncertain or unfamiliar slowly becomes integrated into our ways of thinking, creating, and supporting others.
For many, this season of transition also brings anticipation for the upcoming immersive in-person experience in Nelson. After months of online learning and connection across distances, the opportunity to gather together in place carries a special energy. Nelson, with its surrounding mountains, forests, and waterways, provides a landscape that reflects the very principles that often guide art therapy practice: attentiveness, presence, and relationship with the natural world.
Preparing for the immersive experience can be more than logistical planning. It can also be a time to reflect on what we hope to bring with us and what we hope to receive. A pilgrimage to a deeper part of ourselves. What insights from this past year are beginning to emerge? What questions remain alive? What creative practices have helped sustain us through the winter months?
Reading week offers an invitation to reconnect with creativity in small and meaningful ways. Perhaps it is spending time sketching, journaling, walking outdoors, or simply noticing the subtle changes in the landscape as winter gives way to spring. These quiet acts of attention often mirror the work of art therapy itself, creating space for awareness, reflection, and expression.
As we move toward the final weeks of the semester and the journey to Nelson, this moment of seasonal transition reminds us that growth is rarely sudden. It unfolds gradually, often unseen at first, until one day the signs of change are unmistakable.
Spring is arriving, both in the landscape and in the learning that continues to unfold within the KATI community. Taking time now to pause, reflect, and prepare can help us enter this next stage with clarity, curiosity, and renewed creative energy.
Posted by Nicole Bodnaresk