When life delights us and fills us with glee, we want to celebrate. It feels good to share unbounded joy without having to temper our enthusiasm with modesty. But we are taught that humility is a virtue; that no one likes to hear us brag. There are many people we can go to when we have problems. It's equally important to have people in our lives who are delighted to acknowledge our efforts and our achievements. So where do you turn when you want to celebrate yourself?

Like you, I receive many thoughtful gifts. Some have a message that's notable. Years ago, a friend, Sunila, visited New Zealand. She arrived at a small farm known for the perfume they distill from plants that grow on their land. The fragrant oils are made with care and with love. It’s easy to imagine her enjoying the process of sniffing and selecting the essence of Rose Geranium she brought home for me. Department stores have aisles of perfume products arrayed in elegant, crystal atomizers. My gift arrived in a small, glass bottle with a paper label. It is perfect!

Spring is nature’s art in motion: bulbs burst through the hard winter ground; wildflowers poke through rocky crevices; and white blooms cascade on green-leaf Andromeda. As we look skyward, blossoms dress the tree tops, framed against the vibrant blue we call sky. And it all unfurls much like the fiddle-head fern - tenderly and in its own time.

Remembering refreshes the past. This week Passover is celebrated all over the world, and the highlight of the holiday is the Seder - a dinner where history and symbolic foods remind us that freedom is the human trait that cannot be compromised. It’s a meal of simple food. The focus is on matzo, the flat bread with not much flavor that baked quickly in the desert sun, as families of newly freed Jews followed Moses toward the promise of a homeland. When a people has just been released from the chains of slavery, freedom tastes good.