One
morning I was feeding the rescue cats that live in shelters we built around our
home, when I noticed one of the cats in hunting mode, chasing
something. As I got closer, I noticed the cat was mercilessly swatting
at a butterfly, playing his catch game. I got closer, shooed the cat
away and examined the poor butterfly. The back part of its wings had
been slashed on several places, leaving the butterfly still able to fly,
but only at short heights and distance. With pain in my heart for the
poor butterfly, I decided to try to get it and move it to a safer
location where it wouldn’t be so exposed. As I tried to approach it and
carefully scoop it in my hands, the butterfly seemed to understand I was
trying to help. It simply walked from my cupped hands to my left wrist
and just sat there, seemingly waiting for my next move.
Mind
you, that was the very first time I ever had a butterfly pose on my arm,
and I felt a sense of exhilaration, as well as responsibility for that
beautiful and precious little life. I started scouting the area for a
place where to safely discharge the ward in my care. I walked towards
one of my neighbor’s house and approached a low hedge in the middle of
their front yard. Not sure if that would be safe enough, I decided to
ask the butterfly. As I got closer to the hedge, moving as if to place
it there, the butterfly walked up from my wrist to my arm, giving me a
clear indication that it wasn’t ready to get off. So I kept slowly
walking around, butterfly on arm, until I noticed a low-bearing tree
behind the wood fence between the next two neighbors. Some of the tree
branches touched the top edge of the fence. I climbed up a pile of
bricks to reach the top of the 6’ fence, paused and decided to ask the
butterfly if that was a better spot. As I was in the process of
formulating that question in my mind, the butterfly seemed to instantly
respond by walking down my arm and into a leaf from one of the tree
branches over the fence. Elated, I said goodbye and left it there, hoping it would still be able to live the rest of its short butterfly life in peace.
I
found the experience quite moving in many ways. And since I believe
everything happens for a reason, I started looking for the meaning
behind this sad but beautiful experience I had just shared with a
butterfly. What came to mind was a parallel with my profession. As a
healer, it’s my job to create the safe space to assist the people I
cross paths with in dealing with the challenges they encounter, and help
them find a better path. But all I can do is to serve as a tool, a
facilitator, a ride from point A to point B. As much as I want to help,
even to the point that I might occasionally entertain the misguided
belief that I know what’s best for my clients, in the end my job is to
gently guide them where they want to go, while checking along the way if
they are indeed approaching their goals; and then finally letting them
go when they find the perfect spot where to get off and continue their
journeys on their own (or with someone else’s assistance). I would have
loved to know if that butterfly managed to live the rest of her life
flying from flower to flower, completing its mission in this world. But I
had to trust the fact that our paths were just meant to cross for that
brief period of time during which we connected and learned from each
other, while I was able to be of service.
The same principle can apply to anyone trying help a loved one through a challenge. The bottom line is, we can’t shorten anyone’s path; but occasionally we may be placed in a position to offer someone a hand (or accept someone’s support), as we all continue to move forward at our own pace to where we need to be…
On a side note:
I often use the butterfly symbol of transformation during my sessions,
and I actually had a client gift me a beautiful coffee cup with the
following famous quote:
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly…”
© Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 10/23/2017
