University Of Texas - Tumblr Posts
If you're wondering why I've been posting about butterflies recently, it is not only that it is butterfly season where I live; it is graduation season as well.
I have been attending quite a few graduations recently and certainly have attended many many more in the past, including my own. The two seasons complement each other quite well, even if I shed a tear or two at each and every *ceremony.
A child, like the caterpillar, must grow where it is planted, its survival dependent upon the environment around it, whether that is parsley, milkweed, or the adults who provide care (or not!) and all the other elements that encourage a life to be lived. One can relocate caterpillars or small humans but the need for nourishment in all its forms is still there if the wee creature is to survive.
So we come to the bursting open of the chrysalis and behold the graduates in their multi-colored regalia as we watch them take flight. They are no longer bound by that one plant (we hope) but we also hope they never forget the sustenance that was provided throughout the days, weeks, and years. For caterpillars that have turned into butterflies, it is in the DNA to seek out the plant specific to their species, but for humans it is so so much more. Relationships, environments, cultures--whether positive or negative--shape the graduates just as much as they shape them in turn. They can choose to learn from either and with that choice can continue to grow and foster the new and strengthen the old. Wherever they go. And according to the Dr. Seuss book that is a popular graduation gift--they'll go many many places taking their unique gifts, quirks, and hopefully love with them.
If there is one sentence I would put in each and every graduation speech, it would be:
follow the butterflies.
*Hell, I cried at ret Commander William McRaven's commencement speech at the University of Texas-Austin in 2014 and I only watched it on YouTube.
**Once a year around graduation season, I used to tuck a note in a box that remembered things we had learned throughout the year and possibilities for the future. One could do it more often, but let's be real here with parenting, K? When one becomes a parent, the yearly note of lessons learned/future plans just hit different. It makes an 18 (or more or less, life happens) map of the past, present, and best wishes for the future....