Vernal Equinox

First day of spring-- I keep thinking about the end of autumn.

- Matsuo Basho

I remember reading this poem in my ‘Approaches to Reading and Interpretation’ course during the fall of my junior year in college. The professor, who was also my advisor, referred to this class as ‘hazing’ for English majors, to weed out the weak from the strong; the wheat from the chaff. I eked out a C+ in that class after three and a half months of toiling, reading and writing (and sometimes crying). I recall going to my advisor’s office and telling him I wasn’t going to continue in the program. I figured my grade might have already decided that for me anyway. He told me I was wrong. He told me to follow my heart and if I truly loved what I was studying then the grade didn’t matter. He then asked me to recite the above Basho poem. I did, mostly because I had studied it so many times and maybe a little bit because I was afraid of disappointing him. He told me to picture an egg standing on its end during the vernal equinox. I had not tried this in years, but vividly recalled the excitement I’d feel as a child when I achieved this once-a-year feat. My advisor told me that I was that egg and that this was my chance to stand up and prevail. And so, I remained in the program. A few months later, while well into the spring semester of my junior year, I was breezing through my English courses. I even made the Dean’s list that semester, which I hadn’t done before. I sat down at my desk on March 20th, and with my resolve set and Basho reverberating in my mind, decided to balance an egg. And it worked! I was so excited and relieved. Of course, this was long before the digital photo era, so I don’t have photos to prove this, but man, I was amped. I finished my English program the following year, and I’ve never forgotten that professor’s profound lesson: Stand up when you think you can’t and you’ll never fail. And in deference to that idea, I balance my egg every March 20th as an annual reminder of that concept. Some say it’s a hoax, that you can balance an egg any day if you try hard enough. But I don’t believe that. I believe in Basho. I believe in the wonder of the vernal equinox. And I believe in the impact of believing in yourself. All of that power is harnessed right here in this one lonely picture.Here is today’s egg. Happy spring, y’all! 🥚 🌸