Am I the only person who didn’t know that caterpillars disintegrate into a gloppy mess inside their cocoons before recreating themselves as butterflies? I found this out only recently and realized my original ideas about the change were loosely based on whimsical children’s books. What a surprise – they did not provide a lot of details. I simply assumed that wings developed on the back of the caterpillar and the body thinned down to create the look of a butterfly. Or maybe I just didn’t think that much about it.
A recent visit to a butterfly pavilion (which is a delightful, beautiful, and fun way to spend a morning) got me researching these creatures. What happens inside the cocoon is very weird. The caterpillar releases enzymes that dissolve all of its tissues. A Scientific American article about this process says, “ If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out.”
But inside this “soup” are cells known as imaginal discs, a kind of pattern holder for the adult body parts. Once the caterpillar has become a liquid, the imaginal cells use this protein rich soup to begin creating a butterfly.
What struck me most about this discovery is the invisible pattern holders that hold a template of a butterfly. It’s a pattern for alignment with beauty and best self.
How cool would it be if humans also had imaginal discs? And they were waiting for the right moment to help us come into alignment with our best selves? Imagine a world where out of the gooey mess of life, we are called to resonate with our deeply held values, the ones that sometimes only get lip service in this culture. The pattern holders would transform us and we would effortlessly and consistently be kind, generous, and non-judgmental. I know that’s not how it works. But consistent alignment with our values is possible through conscious effort. And that’s the mindfulness focus for this week – alignment with our best selves.
For more information about mindfulness focus words click here.
More information on Caterpillar Transformations:
How Caterpillars Gruesomely Transform into Butterflies – from ZME Science
How Does a Caterpillar Turn into a Butterfly, by Ferris Jabr – from Scientific American
Joan – I really love reading your insights. Thank you for your effort to share these meaningful thoughts.
Thanks Karrie! I was so struck by how much I didn’t know about the butterfly transformation. It seems magical.