Monarch

I am not a butterfly gal (prefer dragonflies) but this morning as I biked my dog around the neighborhood, I spotted this perfectly intact monarch butterfly in the debris of a sewer drain. From a bit of internet searching, it seems that these small creatures represent transformation, new life from the old, and the soul (especially those who've passed on).

In the past week, I've come to some new conclusions about myself, especially in relation to my parents. More like, me separate from my relationship with my parents. As in, me without any measuring stick.The fact is that I've always defaulted to their opinion, believing they know more / best, when that's exactly what it is, an opinion. Always worrying that I didn't know enough, even if I felt something intuitively. Doubting my understanding, my decisions, and therefore myself.An upheaval in my beliefs, like that of the Sun verse the Earth as the center of the Universe. A tectonic shift that places me at the heart of my own life.

Herein lies the deepest symbolic lesson of the butterfly. She asks us to accept the changes in our lives as casually as she does. The butterfly unquestioningly embraces the chances of her environment and her body.This unwavering acceptance of her metamorphosis is also symbolic of faith. Here the butterfly beckons us to keep our faith as we undergo transitions in our lives. She understands that our toiling, fretting and anger are useless against the turning tides of nature – she asks us to recognize the same. (more)

As 2011 comes to a close and my word for 2012 is making it's way into my life, the above images are more than I can explain. So much of the past 2 years has been about my own emergence / presence, a reclamation of who I really am and a transformation that resurrects my intuition, my confidence, my soul.