Butterflies Are Free

A few months ago I went to the monthly meeting of a local women's group. The theme for the evening - fittingly enough - was Native American, The Butterfly Moon. Each of us was asked to liken ourselves to a butterfly in some way. I said that I thought my activities of late could be compared to the purposeful meandering of a butterfly; that what, at first glance, seemed to be the fanciful but erratic flight of a butterfly actually had an underlying intent. That right now in my life I'm trying to lay the foundation for a metamorphosis (another butterfly analogy), so I'm sampling. I'm flitting from here to there, a little of this, a little of that, a nip or two across the way. It's not wholly undirected, and each stop provides me with a little more information, a bit more nourishment.

The past couple of months I've been doing quite a lot of that. In late September I went on a four day spiritual retreat in the Pocono Mountains, along with 45 other like-minded souls. In early October, assisted by my friend Kelly, I took my first stab at setting up a knitting booth at the Chesapeake Celtic Festival on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Somewhere in there I embarked upon a course offered by the Craft Yarn Council that will certify me as a knitting instructor. I've been thinking a lot about what seems to be missing in people's lives and about what I can contribute. I've stayed on the trail of the tiny house. I've been reading, researching, networking, and jotting down ideas. So... good. Nice work. I've been a busy little butterfly. Now what?

Now the days are growing shorter and colder, and I'm tired and feeling disorganized. How do I make order out of all the bits and pieces accumulated over the past weeks? That's where I think the butterfly analogy continues to serve me. Let's say that each of those areas I've sampled becomes a perfect little butterfly egg. I will lay them all down and over the dark months they will continue to incubate (and yes, I know that's not really quite how the butterfly gestation thing works, just stay with me) as I flesh them out more in my mind. Some may not make it through the winter. In the spring some caterpillars will hatch and a few might get picked off, but the strongest will hopefully have survived. And then it will be time for those butterfly caterpillars to get busy again!

So what, you might ask, is the caption underneath each of those little butterfly eggs? Determining that will be my task for the next post. I'm happy to be back!