Hay Fever

Outside, life is exploding. Trees are budding, meadows are blooming, the air is filled with tiny particles that do nothing but allow new things to come into being. Pollen — the reproductive cells of nature, its way of saying: it continues. It grows. It unfolds.

And your body? Your body treats exactly this message as an attack. It swells, sneezes, overflows, produces tears and mucus — as though it had to defend itself against an invasion. But it is not an invasion. It is spring. It is blossoming. It is the most alive thing nature has to offer.

The medical explanation is familiar: an overreaction of the immune system to harmless protein substances. The psychosomatic question goes deeper: why do you react to the very symbol of unfolding with resistance? What does it mean when a person is allergic to blossoming?