I love children’s movies. One of my absolute favorites is Moana. It’s a movie filled with music, adventure, and humor. A must see! This weekend I discovered a ‘must read’ children’s book, “Hope for the Flowers,” at a Zoom interfaith retreat. Unlike my favorite movies there was no animation, but the Zoom screen shared the beautiful illustrations to spark my imagination. The story, originally published in 1979, is about two caterpillars; Stripe and Yellow. They set off on a journey – to climb the caterpillar pillar. The first moments on the pile are a shock as caterpillars jostle for position. During the struggle to get to the top, Stripe asks, “Do you know what’s happening?” Another caterpillar answers, “Nobody has time to explain they’re so busy trying to get wherever they’re going – up there.” “But what’s at the top?” Stripe asks. “No one knows that either but it must be awfully good because everybody is rushing there. Good bye, I’ve no more time.”
Stripe and Yellow struggle until they’re exhausted, then return to the bottom of the caterpillar pillar. When they’ve rested and regathered their strength Stripe, who is consumed with a desire to get to the top, leaves his love, Yellow. He returns to the pillar and begins to climb. Yellow is despondent, but stays behind. Ultimately she discovers an alternative to the struggle to the top of the caterpillar pillar. Perhaps she can fly? She takes the risk and transforms into a beautiful butterfly.
Butterflies are deep and powerful representation of life. Butterflies are not only beautiful, but also have mystery and symbolism. They are a metaphor representing spiritual rebirth, transformation, change, hope, and life. The magnificent, yet short life of the butterfly closely mirrors the process of spiritual transformation and serves to remind us that life is short.
It’s so simple and so hard at the same time. It’s so easy to see, an archetype of movies and literature. It’s a message we hear as children, yet it’s a life long journey to fully understand. At 58 I’m just beginning to get it. “It” the “Big Thing” is not out there, it’s not at the top of the caterpillar pillar, it’s in me, and it’s in you, in all of us. As the 13th Century Sufi mystic Rumi said, “We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.”
May you see the beauty in who you are today and every day.
Sarah McEvoy, CPE Intern