Butterflies and dragonflies
Anybody who embraces and appreciates the outdoors and nature will understand that feeling you get when are truly enveloped by the vast space around you, ripe with raw and vibrant energy. Maybe you have found yourself among some wildlife creatures and you notice their intrigue is peaked.
I can tell you that I had that happen to me this past weekend, while at a cabin in Eagle River, by Sugar Camp. My fiance had planned a weekend with a very good friend of mine and her significant other at a cabin on the lake. It was beautiful. We went paddling and kayaking around the lake via manual labor, which was a welcomed workout (possibly not by all) and I loved every minute of it. There was a butterfly, who we deemed the name of Lucy, and many, many dragonflies. To be honest, I had a couple of them land on me and also tons that would stare and advance closer and closer to my face and just stare at me. I don’t know if that what it was saying but in my head it was... “Yo, dude! I got a message for you, so you better listen up! Are you listening? Hey! Hey! HEY!!” Being the nature lover and spiritual person I am, I went and looked up the symbolism of dragonflies and what they represent. In my findings, which were vast and seemingly endless, they are a representation of major transformation, similar to the butterfly. That is just one of the meanings but I found it to be the main choice for most authors to write about. With seeking into the possible mystical side of these beautiful creatures, I look to my own life and remind myself that we too are just on a journey of self discovery. I sit and ponder on what major transformation am I embarking on. Where is life going to take me? How will I respond to life’s mysterious questions being asked? In what way am I emerging into this “new” life?
Did you know the name of the major transformation for a dragonfly is “Emergence”? If you know anything about dragonflies, you might have an understanding of their life cycle. If not, let me explain. Dragonflies have three stages in life... egg, nymph and adult. The female lays her eggs in or near water’s edge while the male dragonfly protects her. Once after the incubation period, the nymph emerges from its egg. This is when the longest part of their life occurs, molting up to 14 times. Next, and final, is the adult phase. This is where the major transformation happens, “Emergence.” The dragonfly emerges out of the water, never to be able to return beneath, to start this “new” life.
Butterflies are similar in the way that they too emerge into new life form. Dragonflies, once in water can never return to its depths and butterflies can never again be the caterpillar it was once. In fact, did you know that when butterfly eggs hatch, the caterpillar must eat the leaf that its egg sat upon to gain the necessary nutrients to go on surviving? The metamorphosis phase, “chrysalis” or “pupa”, is the third stage, which brings forth the butterfly when they are ready to emerge. Some species take hours, others days, or even years.
What does that say for our transformation? How long will my transformation take? Hours, days, years? Only time will tell. The dragonflies and butterfl ies that cross my path will remind me that no matter where life takes me, that I will emerge as the person, soul, light that I am suppose to be.
“It’s only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control.” — Ram Dass
SEEKING
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ONDER
SAMANTHA Y OCIUS PHOTO-TECH
