Caterpillers and Butterflies

I always seem to come across little bits of insight whenever I need it the most.  As the summer winds down, and the first glimpses of fall appear, I’ve been thinking a lot of the cyclical nature of the universe and of our lives.   I happened upon this quote, and it has been stuck in my mind for a few days now.

“The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy.  What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly.”  – Richard Bach

How often do we get caught up in our own daily dramas, forgetting to look at the bigger picture, or at the cyclical nature of our own lives.  Each end is an opportunity for a new beginning, so we must practice letting go of the unhealthy emotions and addictions that keep us in cycles of anger and self pity, looking instead for the possibility of renewal or change.  If we look at the larger cycles of nature, and the universe, we begin to see how small these human dramas are in the larger cycle of our lives, and how they are nothing more than a waste of energy.  In order to change our environment, we must first change how we perceive ourselves and our situations.  When we come across a situation that seems like the end of our current way of life, we would be wiser to mourn its loss, and then instead of dwelling in this darkness, begin searching for the light that surely follows.

Above image © Lindsay DuBois 2009