Metamorphosis: To A New Beginning

I used to think I knew how some caterpillars become butterflies. I assumed they weave cocoons then sit inside growing six long legs four wings and so on. I figured if I were to cut open a cocoon I’d find a butterflyish caterpillar or a caterpillar-ish butterfly depending on how far things had progressed. I was wrong. In fact the first thing caterpillars do in their cocoons is shed their skin leaving a soft rubbery chrysalis. If you were to look inside the cocoon early on you’d find nothing but a puddle of glop. But within that glop lie certain cells called imago cells that contain the DNA-coded instructions for turning bug soup into a delicate winged creature—the angel of the dead caterpillar. If you’ve ever been through a major life transition this may sound familiar. Humans do it too—not physically but psychologically.All of us will experience metamorphosis several times during our lives exchanging one identity for another. You’ve probably already changed from a baby to a child to an adolescent to an adult—these are obvious well-recognized stages in the human life cycle. But even after you’re all grown up your identity isn’t fixed. You may change your marital status embrace parenthood switch careers get sick win the lottery..And any of the above major life altering events could have a majorly shift your perception of yourself. Sometimes that perception shift completes you and makes you a happy and a whole-hearted person. While there will be other times which shatter your identity and make you question even the most basic of your natures. However even during the darkest of phases no matter how shattered one’s identity gets gradually through pain and mistakes arises the opportunities to forge a new identity out of the ashes of the shattered one. These opportunities require extraordinary efforts and inconceivable sacrifices akin to the pain and sacrifice undertaken by the caterpillar during its transformation.