metamorphoses
Think about a caterpillar. Think about what it becomes and the changes it goes through. Four transformations in it's cycle of living. Four metamorphoses. From egg, to larva, to pupa, to the moment that it defies the pull and drag of everything it's been. Four daunting transitions. But only four of them.
Think about how many we endure. An entire lifetime of transfiguring. Think about how adaptable we can be. How resilient we are. How remarkable. To be broken down almost daily, and to be born again and again, each time differently.
Think about the amazing nature of our own remaking. How "The greatest changes stem from the darkest experiences," Matt Haig says. How "We fall apart" and become renewed.
Think about how we bear the weight of it all and then emerge as something with wings. Something that defies gravity.
P.S. ICAD Day 5-8 - all the collages featured in this newsletter are available for purchase here.
One of the things my advisor told me back during my schoolin' days was that age gets to be quite a trip as we get older: we look into the mirror and wonder if the kid is still there.
Much of our body gets physically swapped with new cells every 7 to 11 years, so I think it's true in a literal sense that we both are and are not the same as our past selves.
Loved the work you shared here, too, by the way. It feels complex in terms of what it conveys but not at all busy when taking it in.
This did make me pause and think. I will surely journal about it too. I wonder what stage or cycle I'm in? 💕☀️