A Butterfly Emerges

I wanted to write an entry today, but my mind held too many topics for a single entry.

I wanted to write about Endymion Spring, a debut novel by Matthew Skelton, which took my breath away - it is written for the book lover in each of us! (Hint: buy the book, and embark on a journey. You won't be disappointed.)

I wanted to write about Blogger word verification - a true horror story for the dyslexic! Perhaps that will earn its own spot here eventually.

I wanted to write about Autumn a bit more, but that would surely bore my readers.

I wanted to write about my lack of writing anything on 9/11 - not because I choose not to remember, but because it was a statement of "would we even think of tragedy faced by others of all walks of life if not for those events?"

I wanted to write about getting my curtains in the wash, making my favorite Italian soup, and starting the basics of my new tapestry (which will be a project unto itself!) - but then my mind refused to settle until I wrote about...

A butterfly.

What?

Yes, a butterfly.

Not a literal butterfly, the small insect which begins its life as a horrid worm-like thing, eating my plants and spinning itself into a cocoon. No, this butterfly is the symbolism of emotions.

We all carry a butterfly within us. It is not something that goes through a single cycle - birth, metamorphosis, death. The butterfly simply repeats this the same cycle... beginning, cocoon, transformation, glory and beauty, and then end... to start anew. These stages represent the stages (on a simple scale) of our own emotions picked up from the point of sadness: pain/loss makes us feel horrible, like a lowly worm with no purpose. We draw away, wrapping ourselves up in a state of darkness and seclusion, and we are without protection and exposed to all sorts of danger in our weakened state. But, eventually, that protective cocoon (inside which we are actually going through transformation) cracks, and we burst forth in glory, back in stride, our wings brilliant in the sun. Eventually, we will face a difficulty or hardship that will take us back to the caterpillar phase, and once again we will embark on the healing process. For many, the cocoon is so thick that they feel as if they will never break free of it - and they sadly choose to stop the cycle by their own hands, not realizing that part of the phase will eventually end.

I met a butterfly online just as her wings had started to wilt a bit. She had her splendor, and she was still able to breathe deeply in the sun. Yet, the struggles were drawing in, and each day she shrugged off a bit more of her color and hue as her body prepared for the cycle.

I did not mourn the loss of her wings, nor did I pity her, although I could empathize with her pain. I saw the potential for her healing phase, and I knew that she would again emerge in glory. So, I waited and prayed for her strength as she cocooned herself, and many offered her the words in our hearts when she all but became silent. The power to heal was deep within her, and God tended to her metamorphosis each day.

Today, I was finally able to sit down and do more than compose a short blog entry. So I chose to flit around a bit myself, dancing from blog to blog as a bee visits their favorite flowers. And then I found her. Her wings were spread wide in dazzling form, and the sun was warming her newly reformed senses. She was perched, tentatively, having poked her head out of her cocoon recently, and seemed to test the air around her. The things that had drawn her to slumber in darkness were still present, yet she had gathered her strength again (and is still gathering it), prepared to face them in a better light. She really is a wonderful creature, so full of creativity and life. I know her wings won't last forever (neither will mine, or yours, dear Reader) as this is a normal cycle we all go through. But, at that moment, seeing her there awash in this rebirth, touched me more profoundly than any subject that I could consider writing about today.

Welcome back, Butterfly. It's so good to have you with us again!