When Butterflies Are Afraid To Fly

Caterpillars don’t really have much of a choice, do they?

Whether they like it or not, becoming the butterfly they were created to become is inevitable. A chrysalis is in their future, and on the other side they will be reborn and begin their life anew.

Butterflies have long been used as a metaphor for transformation. Their metamorphosis is spectacular yet relatable. And for those on their own journey of growth and evolution, the presence of a fluttering butterfly can be seen as a spiritual symbol of divine guidance and encouragement.

Unlike caterpillars, we humans do have a choice as to what we will grow into. Or not. We get to decide if we will continue to crawl or learn to fly.

Learning to fly is a messy process. Most human metamorphosis is. Becoming something other than what you’ve always been is a daunting process of unaccepting what you’ve always accepted about yourself as being true, making room for a new empowering story to take its place.

One of the greatest inhibitors to our willingness to fly is who we choose to surround ourselves with. As human caterpillars we are often surrounded by other human caterpillars, those who’ve never grown wings of their own, those who tend to want to keep others wingless as well. Those who’ve never flown can feel threatened by those who decide to do so. 

We can easily let the familiarity of what’s always been derail what could be for us, keep us crawling and flightless. After all, if crawling is all we’ve known we can chose to accept that’s all we are supposed to know and experience. In the energy of such acceptance we will continue to attract more of the same people and experiences which will perpetuate the flightless disempowering vision we have of who we think we are.

Butterfly people, though, have no fear of your wings. They’re too busy growing their own. They are the ones who will encourage you to take flight and share your beauty with the world, to become all you’ve been intentionally created to grow into. Butterfly people understand growth and evolution, because they’re on their own journey of growth and evolution.

At some point in their caterpillar journey, butterfly people decided to enter their own self-imposed chrysalis of transformation. Be it intention or circumstance, driven by purpose or pain, they made the choice that they were here to fly, to unapologetically embrace their true colors and take flight. And with that decision their metamorphosis began.

I’ve been both a caterpillar and a butterfly several times in my life. I’ve know the familiar discomfort of accepted stagnation as well as the exhilaration of taking flight. Growing and evolving involves a simultaneous process of tearing yourself down while building yourself back up. It’s a lonely, at times brutal journey, often misunderstood and unsupported by the caterpillars who surround you. 

Caterpillars selfishly would rather you stay a caterpillar.

But growth attracts the growing.

The magnetic nature of energy attracts more of what it is. Just as stagnant caterpillars attract more of the same, the energy of growth will itself attract the people and experiences which will serve as a gentle wind beneath your ever-growing, ever-stronger wings.

When you’re willing to start, your world will shift, including the world around you. The butterfly people who are ready to support you will appear once you decide to first support yourself.

We are all butterflies, born with the intent to take flight and offer our unique beautiful selves to the world. 

Butterflies, as Elton once said, are free to fly. 

But first, you must be willing to do so.

Ready?

Photo by Michal Mrozek on Unsplash