Happy New Year! May this be your year of peace, comfort, and security!

Saturday I was sitting here at the computer, chatting, reading, thinking of what to do with my day... Outside my window, I saw a butterfly. That is not unusual because the bush outside the window attracts butterflies so they come and go all the time. But I rarely pay much attention to them, even though I'm glad they come fluttering by. This one grabbed my attention. It was deep orange and black, though I don't think it was a Monarch because it was shaped more round than long. I was moved to go sit on a second couch I have in front of that window. (Okay--it's my cat Max's couch! ) As I sat down to admire it, it flew off and I said out loud, Oh don't go away I want to watch you! Not having the butterfly to look at, I looked at the view out my window and I realized that from that perspective I could see the palm and other trees that are in the island where the apartment complex lane comes to an end and there is a turnaround with the island in the middle. I could also see some other trees on the property, and I could see the lane as it winds down toward the pool, laundry, office, main entrance. (instead of the parking lot, where my slot sits empty as a painful reminder that I have no car). Then the butterfly came back and stayed a short while, flitting and dancing from flower to flower, always moving in it's beauty of flight and color, letting me watch it do what it does...it's normal routine of living, playing, being. It came back as if to say "See what is out here for you! " "Come out and play, live, feel the sun and the wind, see all the color!!"

I rearranged my living room so that now I see the lush green trees, the gently winding lane. Inside I have a different view also and my old hand-me-down furnishings even seem different, less oppressive, more acceptable to me.

The gift of a different perspective. From a a common symbol of a symptom of anxiousness....a butterfly!

I have thought about this much since it happened. I think it is very symbolic, metaphorical. By choosing to look at butterflies (fears/symptoms) with curiousity, wonder, fun, a willingness to explore them honestly, my view out the window (my perspective of my world that I am afraid to engage in) may change in exciting, colorful, wonderful ways that I would never expect. By looking beyond butterflies (when they fly off) I may see things I hadn't noticed because my focus was on the butteflies instead of what lies beyond those butterflies.

Thanks for reading! I hope you encounter many butterflies of your own in the days to come!

ECHOES