Butterflies Remind Me We Can Dramatically Change Our Lives, Too
If you're in a dark place and feel trapped, remember caterpillars need that experience to become butterflies
If you feel trapped in a dark place, you’re not alone. Many of us are frightened and overwhelmed by current events and worried about the future.
One thing that never fails to lift my spirits and help me feel better is seeing a butterfly. I was delighted to see the beautiful butterfly in the photo above fly over these flowers on the edge of my church’s parking lot. I paused on my way into a meeting to watch and used my phone to photograph it.
Butterflies have always been an important symbol of hope for me. They remind me that new life is always possible, even when I can’t see a way out of a difficult situation.
We can transform our lives as dramatically as caterpillars do when they become butterflies
One of my favorite movie quotes is this one from Jurassic Park: “Life finds a way.” It’s in response to an assurance from the park’s director that there is no way the dinosaurs there could possibly breed because all were genetically engineered to be females.
Dr. Ian Malcolm, the character played by Jeff Goldblum who made that memorable statement about life finding a way, also said this:
If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh… well, there it is.
I think that’s a perfect summary of the life lesson that butterflies remind me of. They break free for the first time when they hatch from their eggs.
Then they do it again when they enter their chrysalises as caterpillars and emerge from them transformed into butterflies that fly away to new territories.
Is there a chrysalis in your life now that you feel trapped in? If so, what are the barriers you need to crash through to break free and emerge as a new person, ready to embrace a new life? Who or what is preventing you from doing that?
Please share your thoughts about the chrysalis you want to break free of, what butterflies mean to you, or anything else that comes to mind as you read this article in the comments below.
If you’d like to see my photos of other beautiful butterflies and read more about the life lessons they help me remember, you can do that here.
Interestingly, I have often considered my time trying to recover from chronic illness a chrysalis stage (and that is not an easy word to spell!)
Great post, Wendi.
I saw this the other day on one of those Apple News Twitter aggregations:
"People talk about caterpillars becoming butterflies as though they just go into a cocoon, slap on wings, and are good to go. Caterpillars have to dissolved into a disgusting pile of goo to become butterflies. So if you're a mess wrapped up in blankets right now, keep going."
Credit: @JenAshleyWright