Butterflies

Vanessa means "butterfly" in Greek. No wonder I feel I have an affinity with these creatures. They start out as green crawling caterpillars who know nothing but eat leaves and sleep. They spend their caterpillar days like bums. Crawling, eating, drinking, crawling again. Life is meaningless.

Soon enough, they come to a point in their lives when they get tired of the meaninglessness of it all. They decide to bury themselves in the pupa of self-pity and take a deep sleep. When you see a pupa hanging on a leaf or twig, you'd think it was some dead skin of a tree, or dust that just gathered beneath a leaf. But no... inside the pupa, one great transformation is happening.



It is only when the once-green caterpillar emerges from its pupa hiding place that we can see the transformation.



The new creature has a slimmer body -- the caterpillar fat has shed away. And it has wings of vibrant colors!



As it emerges from the pupa, the wings are still weak... soon the butterfly starts to flap its wings, gaining strength, until they have learned to fly.



It has become a creature of beauty. Perhaps even more beautiful than the flowers.



I guess, there are times that we just have to die to our old self before transformation even begins.



And when it does, we emerge like butterflies -- beautiful creatures that can soar to new heights.



No wonder I have an affinity with this creature. At times I feel like a caterpillar... and only when I learn to let the old things die, giving place for the new to come... then and only then will I be able to fly.




By the way, thanks to Deo for lending me his Canon EOS 300D with the 50mm lens. :)