Change: September 6 - 12
My community planted milkweed in the common area. We are now a recognized stop on the monarch migration map.
Do you know how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly? It is mind-boggling. The female monarch butterfly lays a single egg on the underside of a milkweed leaf. Once the tiny caterpillar hatches, it spends the next two weeks continuously munching on milkweed until it becomes three thousand times bigger.
At this point, it attaches to a branch or twig, splits from the head down as it forms a chrysalis, which hardness into a jade green case. It spends the next week or two going through metamorphosis. Basically, it dissolves into green caterpillar soup. From this goo, dormant cells, poetically named imaginal cells, wake up, containing the blueprint for the monarch butterfly. Every bit of the organic liquid is transformed into the wings, body and antenna of the new creature.
One morning 9 to 14 days later, the magnificent butterfly emerges and the cycle begins again.
Practice
Life is a continual process of transformation. It starts with our first inhale and ends with our last exhale. In between, we repeat the process millions of times each year over the course of a lifetime. Every moment is a new beginning, a birth of sorts. Every moment is an ending, a death of sorts. And in between, we breathe over and over again.
Find a milkweed leaf or any other safe place where you can hang out in nature without being disturbed. Drink in the sun. Breathe the air. Maybe munch on something green. Feel life stirring within you, inviting you to grow and change. Listen to your breath. In it, hear the echo of your first breath and all of the breaths in between. Rest for a moment in the wonder of your being.
Is this a season of beginnings as little ones head to school and big ones leave the nest? Make space for everything that is needed for the journey ahead. Fill your heart, your mind, your belly with the good things this life has to offer. Receive graciously and share abundantly. Trust in the days ahead even when it is unclear where life is leading.
Is this a season of endings as the golden days of summer grow shorter and the evening air gets cooler? Let go of everything that is no longer needed for the journey ahead. Lighten the load. Empty your heart and your mind to make room for the next phase. Receive graciously and share abundantly. Trust in the days ahead even when it is unclear where life is leading.
Is this an in between season, where the once steadfast boundaries are dissolving, where transformation occurs in the dark and hidden places, no longer crawling on the earth and not yet able to fly through the sky? Trust in the unknown days and nights, unclear where life is leading.
Every moment is a new beginning, a birth of sorts. Every moment is an ending, a death of sorts. And in between, we breathe.
BONUS Check out this time time-lapse video.
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