I don’t know about you, but for me, the last 12 months has been a rollercoaster of highs, lows and just jogging along on life’s journey. It has been exhausting, exhilarating and exceptional, but not necessarily in equal doses.

Being a guide, I am also curious about the idea of rebirth in history. Almost everyone in the Western World studies the Italian cultural and artistic Renaissance, which of course has at its root the word for rebirth. Historians, though, do not tend to love the term, because although there is a clear cultural movement during that period, no cultural idea “dies”—nothing is reborn.

Let me share with you how the world was created according to the Basques, and then you will understand why Amalur needs the Joaldunaks. Like other ancient beliefs, you will find different versions all around the Basque Country—and all of them are true! Foolish people who don't believe in them, call them legends.

If I look back, I can remember several situations in my past that put me in a terrible distress, sadness and pain. But I also remember the incredible joy of living a new adventure , the thrill for a new love, the satisfaction for new achievements. Having that in mind, now more than ever, I am certain that a true Rebirth is waiting for me at the end of this epic moment.

The long, dark winter was longer and darker than most of us can recall. The signs that we are on the other side of it may be small things—wisps of hyacinth in the air, grass growing out of control—but in a world-wide pandemic, we can use all the hopeful signs that nature can put out. It could not be more fitting that our monthly theme for April is “Rebirth.” There are so many ways in which this theme can apply to every person these days.