Transformation….

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It is cold today and raining. I live pretty high up on a mountainside and so we were literally in a cloud all morning. Very strange feeling. I have been loving the rain as finally the snow has gone except for a few small patches beneath trees deeper in the woods. Now I hear 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow. It makes your heart sink just a bit. I know it won’t last long, but I just didn’t want to look at white again! Such is life, one must go with the flow wherever it takes them. I have chosen to look at the weather as my mentor this morning teaching me how to accept what is.

This morning I found a photograph of the caterpillar I discovered one fall that I kept in a ball jar with screening over the top on my kitchen counter. He ate voraciously on milk weed pod leaves for days and days. He quite quickly went into his pupa stage and became encased in a jade green house trimmed in shiny gold. I was stunned by its beauty. I had no idea nature actually worked with a gold coloring to create it’s wonders. I assumed gold paint color was man made. Live and learn. Everyday I would watch the little green pod as it began to change in color as the caterpillar began to grow into a butterfly inside. The shell was becoming transparent sort of and you could begin to see the pattern of the wings within. It was a fascinating transformation taking place. I realized while being a part of this amazing feat, the true meaning of dying so you can be born again. I realized at that moment I was watching reincarnation taking place. How holy!

As luck would have it I was blessed to be present when the birthing began. What a huge struggle they go through to force themselves out of such cramped quarters. The struggle went on for quite some time until eventually the body was free and slowly, ever so slowly the wings began to unfold. The next couple of hours were dedicated to drying its wings by carefully fluttering them up and down in a rhythmic motion. Several hours later I took the branch it was on outside and left it on the deck railing. It was cold as winter was already scratching at the back door to get in. This little guy had been late in getting started. Eventually he threw himself off into the air and wobbled along on shaky wings across the pasture until I could see him no more. All I could do was pray he made it to warmer spaces before the cold settled in. God speed little Monarch.

Much like the young butterfly placed himself in his protective chrysalis where he orchestrated his amazing death and transformed birth into something brand new, we too seem to be taking this time to build our own chrysalis in which to undo what we no longer need to define ourselves and begin to grow into something new. It takes great courage to embark on such a journey. It is grueling at times, painful, isolating, confusing and challenging and yet deep within we know we must make this journey in order to grow and change. Imagine finding the courage to give up who you once were for what you can be. Terrifying in many ways. You feel ungrounded, untethered, adrift. It is these very times of upheaval that move us along. We must learn to make friends with uncertainty and accept the discomfort. Above all we must have the faith within that we will become the butterfly and fly free if we are patient.

Now is the time we are being asked to create our chrysalis and go within to transform ourselves into who we are meant to become next. The choices are vast and deep, chose wisely. We are being faced everyday with what is wrong in the world, it is time to pull back and simplify our lives and take the time to undergo transformation. This is why we are here, this is how we change the world, by untangling ourselves from it and creating ourselves anew. If you are craving truth instead of lies you will find it within. Have the courage to unfold your wings and fly off into a new you…

Blessings to all,

Visionkeeper