Just When She Thought the World Would End…

 “Just when the caterpillar thought the world would end, she became a butterfly.”

This is one of my favorite quotes. I have often felt a strong affinity with the butterfly and perhaps more so the chrysalis stage of the butterfly.  The stage where I have gone within as preparation to morph into something new.  So when a butterfly showed up today as I meditated on the upcoming Phoenix Rising class I was amused and grateful. How perfect for the butterfly to join those embarking on the road to embrace their gifts.

I asked the butterfly what she wanted to share with us.

Butterfly: We make the chrysalis that holds us in and protects us.  Then what seems like death is the process that allows us to grow our wings and develop our body preparing for our new journey.  All of life is like this.

Wendy: What is it like in the chrysalis?

Butterfly: It is warm, it is dark, and it is safe but it is very cramped.

Wendy: Did you want to stay in your chrysalis?

Butterfly: Staying in my chrysalis would mean death. In order to grow a new body and wings I had to consume what was once me. Had I not emerged, I would have perished; there was nothing left of the caterpillar…I had to die in order to live. And now I can dance all over the beautiful gardens and woods. I’m no longer forced to crawl on the ground or up the vegetation. I can see more now; I can experience so much more. When I was a caterpillar my entire focus was on eating and survival. I am much lighter now and as a result I can drift along and let the wind carry me. I am very happy as a butterfly but I couldn’t be a butterfly if I wasn’t first a caterpillar.

Wendy: Thank you for sharing this with us. I trust you will have more inspiration for those participating in the Phoenix Rising class here on Sunday. I hope you and many of your friends will showup.

Like the butterfly, there is a letting go that happens for us when we agree to break free from our chrysalis or cocoon. It is a life stage where we transform our old self into something more expanded. The chrysalis is an important part of us, but we cannot stay there, just like we cannot stay in the past. While it can be very scary to burst from the chrysalis when the future is unknown it is the only way to move forward.

I know for some people in this stage of chrysalis it can seem like they are not moving forward.  That they are in a dark hole that they cannot escape.  But there is a purpose to this quiet, this darkness.  It is a crucial part of the stage of “becoming”.  If you find yourself in that darkness I encourage you to see it as a temporary space of transistion.  Don’t fight it but allow it to transform you and know that soon, very soon you will be flying and dancing on the winds.