Last November, I discovered a caterpillar crawling around on my parsley plants in the backyard. The plants were in pots, so that I could bring them inside to the screened-in porch if I discovered any caterpillars. And there she was … a chubby, happy black swallowtail caterpillar.
The previous year all the caterpillars got eaten and completely disappeared from my garden so this was exciting!
Amelia (yes, I named a caterpillar!) was crawling all over the 3 parsley plants that I brought in… She was “high-flying”, moving from plant to plant, and eating voraciously!
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Then one day I could not find her … and looked everywhere. Eventually I discovered a greenish “case” that was suspended by a silver thread from one of the stems of the parsley. She had created a beautiful chrysalis in which to allow the transformation to a butterfly take place.
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A few days later I could not find her green home and discovered it had turned brown… and then a week later I discovered a second chrysalis! … given that it was November by this time and temperatures were dropping I was not sure they would make it over the winter …
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So it was exciting last weekend to discover a black swallowtail butterfly sitting on the parsley plant on my back porch!! … resting, getting ready to fly into her new life!
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An hour or two later she was on the ground cover right outside the back porch door.
Later I saw a big yellow butterfly flying and twirling through the air in a dance of delight … accompanied by a small black swallowtail butterfly … I couldn’t help thinking it was Amelia and the yellow butterfly had befriended her and was showing her around her new neighborhood!
I was so content and happy seeing her resting in the ground cover until it was time to take flight and dance in the air …
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The next day was another sweet surprise: another lovely black swallowtail butterfly on my back porch! My heart soared! How fortunate I was to have watched the magic of Nature’s total transformation of these beautiful creatures.
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So my conclusions are these:
· Life wants to Live!
· The metamorphosis from a caterpillar, with all feet firmly on the ground, to a butterfly flying gracefully through the air, even “dancing“ with a new friend, is truly miraculous …
One of my favorite quotes that lives on my fridge is by Buckminster Fuller:
“There is nothing about a caterpillar
that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly”.
Hmmmm … A total transformation that is truly magical …
Is there any possibility that humanity could ever have such a miraculous transformation?
· Moving from Empire to Earth Community…
· From being stuck in our current reality, like the caterpillar on the parsley plant, to the soaring possibilities of our visions?
· From a planet whose Beauty is being degraded by the selfishness of over-consumption to honoring Nature …
· To a world that puts caring and compassion above the addiction to more (aka greed) …
· To a world that puts inclusion and connection above blaming others …
· To a world that values living from the heart with compassion rather than from the head finding fault…
· To an economy that creates “enoughness” for all … and everyone contributes their fair share …
· To a world of delight and joy, developing connections with our Global Human Family as well as our non-human family … looking for and finding the miraculous in our midst.
May we open to the Grace of possibilities …
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