Friday, February 13, 2015

The Butterfly’s Struggle

In my youth, in the beginning of my mime-dance career, I drew a picture of a woman encased in a cocoon. Faint lines around the cocoon indicated vibrations and struggle. It was a time in my life that I was dealing with a lot of frustrations, felt bound by them, and was struggling to get out. Yet the cocoon was also a safe haven, a refuge that I had created.

Metamorphosis
Soon after, I developed a movement piece entitled “Metamorphosis”. It depicted the story of the butterfly from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. Each stage and the transition from one stage to another was an analogy of human psychological development. I represented the cocoon by wrapping myself within the confines of my own arms. To evolve into the beauty and lightness of the butterfly, I needed to liberate myself from my own self-made armor. I struggled to do so until I gained my freedom, rebirthing as a butterfly.

The value of struggle
Sometimes struggle is necessary in order to become liberated from circumstances in which we find ourselves or from confines of our own making. The struggle can precede and lead to a rebirth and metamorphosis into a more beautiful and evolved being. Rather than fear struggle or judge ourselves for struggling, it can be best to examine if the struggle is necessary since sometimes we create struggle out of the dysfunctional need to have a battle with someone or something. However, if the struggle is needed, then I think it is best to allow it to be okay, get on with it, learn from it, and do it with as much love, grace and compassion as possible. 

Perhaps not
FYI: There is a story that’s gone around the internet of a man who freed a butterfly that was struggling to get out of its cocoon. Supposedly, it proceeded to die because it needed the struggle to push blood into its wings. Well, that story is an urban legend. It’s just not true. During the normal development of the insect, the pupa bursts allowing the butterfly to emerge. It’s an easy transition without struggle. Makes me wonder how much of our struggles are really normal, healthy or necessary!
© Bibi Caspari 2015