The Monarch makes a journey each year from Northern Canada to Mexico taking flight against all of nature’s unpredictable elements. It is this tiny wonder which flies up to fifty miles a day to reach its final destination high in the Mexican mountains.
Each year I watch the Monarch dance through my garden and wonder how does such a small creature move with such grace under pressure?
In some ways we are all like that butterfly toiling away on finishing our next creative project, attempting to keep our head above water, and finish the to-do list for the week. It is our own private journey that we must use the momentum of the wind to carry on with our day.
The Monarch also has its own days when it too has to admit defeat to the elements of nature and rest when the air is too hot or when the wind is too cold. It can only take flight when the climate is perfect!
On certain days the feeling of the sky falling and black clouds looming makes us all want to pull the blankets over our head and go back to bed. If life were perfect we all would be able to take a moment for that rest when we are feeling a little weathered and beaten down during the storm.
It is when things happen in our life that are out of our control we need to take a step back and take the cue to breathe. Sometimes instead of forcing the outcome we need to rest and wait for the perfect wind to carry us along just like the beautiful Monarch.
Do you know the secret of the Monarch? How does she maintain grace under pressure?
What a beautiful butterfly. This is the first time I have heard of the Monarch. It is just as well none of the butterflies over here rely on the climate to fly: they would be permanently grounded.
Thank you! They really are a beauty. Hah! I guess they would
I remember I read a wonderful book about it but now I can’t recall the title! >.< eeeks! I think you will like it!
If you remember please let me know my reading list is getting low
I dont know her secret, but I wish she would share…I could use some tips right now… One thing I bet she doesn’t do (which I have done secretly each day this week) – cry at her desk
I hope everything is okay! I wish I knew that secret too
Oh .. .Hilary,
Sending you a hug …
I think she needs it. It sounds like a horrible week.
Angela thanks… Darcie is right.. I can use it.. It has been a rough week…
Love you guys!
Big Group Hug! Next week will be better
All I can say is that, right now, I WISH I were a monarch. *Sigh*
Wouldn’t it be lovely just to fly the day away and rest on a flower for a nap? I think I just caught myself in a daydream…
How odd, Darcie, that most of us here today “wish we were a Monarch.” I know I do, too. I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, so I pulled the sheets tightly to my neck and went back to sleep. I guess it is better to sleep it off, once in a while, than to walk around the house, or just sit, and dwell on the little off-turns in life.
By the way, the Monarch makes one of its stops in Monterey, CA, about 50 or so miles from my home. They are beautiful to watch!
Hugs to you, dear Amiga!
~Virginia
You must take pictures for me! It must be a beautiful sight
I’m glad you had a little rest and hope you are feeling better! *hugs*
What a perfect metaphor for what a life is all about! Yeah … i can resonate with the monarch … Someday, I feel like flying and perhaps migrating/traveling … and someday I would stop and enjoying the beauty and sip a little of those nectar in life. –Simply captivating!
Thank you! Right now I feel like sipping the nectar
I’ve always loved butterflies and enjoy the butterfly gardens in my area so much. My neighbor has a bush in front of her house that attracts them and I keep trying to snap a picture but they proof to be very elusive!!!
I would love to visit your neighbors garden! I planted a butterfly garden this summer and have my fingers-crossed it will turn out
Funny – my work life is butterfly-like. Because I work outdoors and varnish boats for a living, I never know that the day will bring in terms of work. Whether I sand or vanish, or just fiddle around depends on whether it rains, or is windy, or is too hot or cool. The secret is understanding that I’m not in control of the weather and never will be!
I think you have my dream job! I think it would be wonderful to work quietly sanding and varnishing in the outdoors. We really do have to realize that we are not always in control. And it is definitely a lesson I have to remember
Great stuff. You are so right about the journey we make and the circmstances which affect it. My brain has a tendency to flap when the weather is not too good
Thank you! My brain shuts down at the first sight of snow
I live in the wrong climate…
What a lovely metaphor, Belle. When the going gets tough I am invariably rather clumsy: yet this iny creature achieves so much with such delicacy. Lovely post.
Thank you, Kate! I am rather clumsy too! It’s amazing what this tiny creature must do to reach its destination and look so effortless doing it
I’ve always been amazed by this migration whenever I see them flying along the shores of Lake Michigan. How do they know where to go and that they have to do it? They just know. It really is very inspiring. Even though they do have to fly such a long way, napping on a flower sounds wonderful.
WOuldn’t it be wonderful to wake-up to the fresh scent or roses or lilacs?
Grace under pressure is perfection at its finest…trudging back to the character training area now…see you later Darcie. It’s gonna be a loooong training session for me. *shuffle-shuffle*
)
(great story! I so love it!!
What is character training? Fill me in on the detail when you get the chance
Have a good night!
Isn’t it crazy how struggles make us stronger, just like a butterfly when it first breaks free of its cocoon? It’s really hard to see that while in the moment, but when looking back as time passes, it becomes clearer. Nice post.
Thank you
Struggles do makes us stronger. We just have to remember that when we are trying to get out of bed 
that is a great picture – colorful background with the butterfly in the middle. I took a picture of a butterfly in my garden yesterday. I don’t think it was a monarch it had coloring of a tiger, black and yellow with lengthy tail.
I would wither away if I had to depend on my creativity for my livelihood. My creativity comes in spurts and has to be nurtured. I remember when my son was a teenager I couldn’t journal because all I wanted to write was ‘that kid is driving me crazy”. Not very creative.
Hah! I’m pretty sure I will right the same thing when my kids are teens. I’m so not ready for those years!
It’s funny! I took a picture the other day of the exact same butterfly you described…I will have to investigate to find out what it is but they really are beautiful.