When overwhelmed embrace the Butterfly Soup
The dull old caterpillar transforming into a beautiful butterfly is a well-worn metaphor for periods of transformation and change. Indeed, my first tattoo was of a butterfly to symbolise my transformation after leaving a very difficult relationship. Unfortunately I got it on the back of my shoulder so I’m never able to see it, but hey, the thought was there!
I don’t know about you, but I always thought that the transition from caterpillar to butterfly was a pretty simple one. Caterpillar builds a cocoon around itself, grows some wings and hey presto, a couple of weeks later out it pops. Unfurling itself with a flourish, saying something like, ‘Finally, darlings, I’ve arrived!’
What I didn’t know until very recently was that the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is far more complicated, and actually a little bit gross.
Basically, once inside the cocoon the caterpillar releases enzymes that cause its body to dissolve.
In other words, it turns itself into a soup.
The only part of the caterpillar that doesn’t melt away are its imaginal cells.
Imaginal cells are undifferentiated cells, which means they have the potential to become anything.
And in the cocoon, they become the butterfly.
These details might seem a little gruesome but I was actually overjoyed to discover the truth of what happens.
To me, it’s a far more realistic metaphor for periods of transition.
For surely if we want to really change ourselves or our lives we can’t just stick on a pair of wings like a costume. We have to completely dissolve our old ways of being and doing.
We have to become a butterfly soup.
This past year I’ve spent a lot of time knowing that I have to change my life but not sure exactly how I want my next chapter to look. Maybe this resonates with you? I know a lot of people are feeling the need for change as we emerge, blinking and slightly dazed, from the pandemic.
For the first half of the year this need for change but not knowing how it was going to look stressed the hell out of me.
I felt rudderless and confused, which in turn brought a side helping of fear.
What if I never figured out what I wanted to do? Was I destined to stay stuck in the wrong place, in the wrong life forever?
But then I learned about butterfly soup, and everything changed.
Actually, nothing changed externally. But internally was a whole other story.
Instead of feeling confused and overwhelmed by all the ‘what if’s bombarding my brain, I simply imagined adding them to the soup.
I could do this. Move here. Travel there. Leave that.
I saw every possible option available to me as an ingredient to be thrown into the melting pot. All of them imaginal cells with the potential to become anything.
I bought a new journal and titled it BUTTERFLY SOUP and I wrote about all of my various options, as if recording new recipe ideas.
Any time I felt the pressure to make a decision before I was ready, I brought to mind the image of my soup pot and reassured myself that it just needed a bit more time to marinate.
Reading back over four months of entries I see some ideas that felt good at the time but I now know aren’t quite right. And I’m so relieved that I didn’t act rashly upon them.
I can also see some of the same ‘ingredients’ popping up time and time again, like a chef adding more and more of a certain spice, until the soup tastes just right.
I still don’t know exactly how the next chapter of my life is going to look but I know it’s going to involve more travel and I already have trips to Norway and America booked.
And for now, I’m content to let my soup simmer a little longer.
If you’re going through a period of transition and feeling a little overwhelmed by fear or indecision I hope the butterfly soup idea helps you too. And if you know anyone you feel might benefit from this week’s WONDERSTRUCK please feel free to share with them via the link below.
Wishing you a wonder-full week of embracing the imaginal cells of your ideas and potential.
Siobhan