Monday, September 07, 2009

Crysalis (Butterfly and cocoon)



[Barbara Coleman, a therapist in the Boston area, sent me this wonderful story about a butterfly and it's crysalis told to her by her yoga teacher, who I'm sorry is unknown to me. Thank you to both of you!]

One day a boy found the cocoon of a butterfly in which a small opening was appearing. He sat and watched it for several hours as it struggled to force its way through that tiny opening. All of the sudden it stopped. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could on its own and could go no further.

The boy decided to help the butterfly cocoon. He took a pair of scissors and snipped away the last remaining bit of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily with it's swollen body and shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting at any moment that the butterfly would begin to fly. That didn't happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its short life crawling around with shriveled wings and a swollen body. It never did fly.

What the boy did not understand was that his intended kindness and haste to help the butterfly allow for the universal plan of the butterfly. The restricting cocoon and the struggle to get free are all part of the process. The restriction and the struggle force the fluid from the butterfly's body into its wings, strenthening its system so that it can fly when it finally gets free.

We all live this story. We all have a crysalis around us. Our struggles support our ongoing evolution. We struggle against that!! Oh yes we do!! (Okay, I speak for myself!!!) We want to fly but often we don't have the internal strength to make that happen. The process of rubbing against what feels so constricting can generate our longing and mobilize our movement to reach beyond what is so comfortable into something larger and more freeing.

I wish this for all of us - the internal fortitude to move through what is hard to the freedom that is always beckoning.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful. Thank you

marushkag said...

I remember when my boys were growing up we had 2 different chrysalis's that we watched over time. They were both a beautiful light green with white spots and as the chrysalis developed and was closer to hatching, the shell turned almost black. It spun, hummed, turned so many different colors, and finally poof it broke and there was this magnificent butterfly. We took it out in the back, thanked it for allowing us to witness its metamorphosis, gently took it in the palm of our hand, and off it flew.
I am so attracted to butterflies and this analogy I just read here reminds me why. No matter how hard I struggle, I eventually remember that steady breath, the many beautiful people in my life, the opportunity that my feelings give me to go deeper, learn more about me and therefore about others. To be separate and create for ourselves safe places and yet know that we are all the same and that being more loving and compassionate is why I am here; makes me feel less bandied about by my deep feelings.
Like the chrysalis I spin, I hum, I struggle, I cry, I break out as I help others; feeling complete and utter strength, joy, compassion for me for you, emerging as the butterfly again and again and again.