Words can be challenging at times to put together; this is why this blog has been in my drafts for such a long time.
At times it's hard to bring people into your thoughts and have them understand what you're trying to relate,
It's hard trying to have them live the moment ( and in the right now) .
For example this moment that you see in this picture. This moment was amazing. I was in the pool and tanning afterwards when this butterfly landed on me. At that moment I was immensely happy that I had my cell phone with me to capture such a view.
Then I researched the reason why this happened and it became even more interesting. I learned that butterflies are attracted to the salt in your sweat. Your sweat can also give them a boost of minerals and proteins to supplement their diet.
Butterflies are even known to be attracted to tears for similar reasons. Scientists have observed butterflies drinking tears from tortoises and other animals, for instance, the Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia) was seen drinking the tears of caiman crocodiles.
WHY DO BUTTERFLIES NEED SALT?
Butterflies typically need salt and other minerals for reproduction. Most butterflies that drink salt are males since they incorporate the minerals and salt into their sperm. These nutrients are then transferred to females during mating to improve the survival rates of their eggs.
It took me a few months to think, research and write and re-write this blog. Why? Because I needed to find the connection between a butterfly and Us.
I researched that we need salts in our cells - that's how they regulate their size by bringing water in by osmosis; that's also how they regulate electrical activity. Nerve cells, for instance, you couldn't carry information without actually having this electrical gradient across the membrane because all that's happening when a nerve cells fires off an impulse is that you get a sudden flood of sodium in to one patch of a nerve cell. This brings in lots of "plus" to that part of the cell and therefore an electrical signal goes whizzing down the nerve and gets built up and regenerated as it goes down the nerve and it travels at about 50 to a 100 meters a second; so very rapid transmission of information.
We need salts in our body, we take in salt in our diet, we absorb salts and those salts also include important things like calcium to make your bone strong but you're also losing salts all the time when you go to the toilet for example you lose calcium, you lose phosphates.
A butterfly's wings can easily be damaged if you touch them and you might find a powdery residue left behind. This powder is actually tiny scales that cover their wings to stabilize and strengthen their wings.
We are all connected in this circle of life. Butterflies need salt to have a function and our body also needs salt to function.
So why do we feel empowered to think that one is in a higher position than the next? Why do we hurt others and we undermine others opinions, thoughts, cares and feelings? Why is it that we think that any creature is less than us? Why have we lost that empathy feeling?
I had the most beautiful experience when this butterfly landed on me, and we shared a few minutes together.
I was also blessed to have had learned a very valid lesson from this little creature!
With everything going on nowadays with this pandemic that is still lingering and the changes in our children’s education, the lack of work, others worrying about going back to work, the news (which I do not listen to based on my own personal opinion) politics, death, etc.
We have forgotten to realize how fragile our feelings are when words are being spoken to us or words are said...
I noticed that this butterfly had its wings damaged. It reminded me of how I felt when I heard 2 people’s opinions of me; and how I was told that I should just quit writing because my writing is not the best.
It was also said that I’m old, and with this new lifestyle that we live In today, "no one is interested in listening to "SOB STORIES"
I was told that I should just accept my life and my health issues and just settle for a life like everyone else my age and accept life for what it is and stop striving because at my age, it will be basically impossible to achieve what I want.
I was also told; "That I should let go of the dreams and that "I am wasting my time and that my bus stopped and passed by me and I stayed at the station."
I honestly just listened quietly to everything that was said, and yes, it hurt; it hurt a great deal. I even took some time to cry and sob because I started questioning myself and (the crazy in my head (like Margarita Pasos says) called the subconscious mind started talking to me and saying:)
“Is this the reality? Am I really wasting my time? Should I just quit and settle because maybe I’m just making a ridicule of myself?”
I sat down, and I cried and said to myself:
“Mitzy, if you would have given up when you had your hemiplegic migraine that paralyzed your whole left side and ended up in a wheelchair, you would still be in rehab.”
If you had given up when you had various TIA's and were pumped up with so many pills, you wouldn’t be where you are today;
Just looking down at my legs in this picture reminded me that just months ago, I had a boot and an air cast on my other foot, and today I am walking. Feet still hurt at times, and I have to be careful, but I'm not where I was at.
All this I learned from a butterfly.
I understand that to the naked eye, my work and strive might not make sense (and that's okay, it's not supposed to make sense to anyone), because its my vision, not anyone else's.
I don’t express my personal experiences to gain any fame. I share my writings for the woman and men that are out there that feel they can’t continue.
I write for the ill that suffer from day-to-day pains that only they know and cannot articulate, and they might express it with an attitude or anger because no one knows how they feel.
I write for the broken people that shed tears when they are alone because their heart is broken and their burden is so heavy that they feel like life is not worth living.
I write for the poor at heart, the rich and the lonely. I write my truth to show the world that if I struggle every day with memory loss, swollenness, shakes, numbness in my limbs, migraine, weight gain, horrible pains that are undesirable; shoulders that have avascular necrosis and are enlarged because of lack of circulation and so many other physicality's…and I still strive every day to continue going in a happy mood and with a positive perspective... so can you.
This butterfly knows how frail it is, and it knows that a humans touch damages it, and a humans decision can kill it;
Yet, it still risks it all and does what it has to do to feed itself and continue flying and living and on occasions like this one, it gave me the opportunity to land on me; and stay around for a few minutes.
Do you know that If you touch a butterfly gently, it will lose some scales, but rarely enough to prevent it from flying?
A butterfly wings are made of a thin membrane webbed with veins. Butterflies cannot regenerate those lost scales.
On older butterflies, you may notice tiny clear patches on their wings, where scales have been shed.
The wing will never “heal,” unlike when you set a broken bone. If you find a butterfly with a piece of wing hanging loose, you can pull it off from that piece of wing and let the butterfly go. Otherwise, it's best to leave it be and let nature take its course.
Butterfly wings are intricately designed and delicate. Butterflies do not feel pain. Although butterflies know when they are touched, their nervous system does not have pain receptors that register pain, so this procedure does not cause the butterfly stress or pain.
So if such a frail creature that can die at any moment has the courage and the strength to do what it has to do as small and delicate as it is?
Then why would I let people’s opinions of what they see affect me?
I was honored and humbled to learn this lesson from this butterfly. Life is how you see it, and I choose every day to learn and take everything that happens in my life; as a lesson, and I always ask myself? What can I learn from this? What can I do to be better? and my number one rule of thumb is. Treat others with respect.
I have learned in my life now that we are all made in a unique way, and all we need is time to understand how we communicate and learn who and how we are; only then will we be able to give in a much positive and constructive way to others. (Not forgetting that they might not respond accordingly, but that has nothing to do with you. Remember that!)
We all can hurt anyone with our words. That is why we are called human beings because we make mistakes. The beauty is that we are ALL given another day when we wake up a new morning to make amends, apologize, and to encourage one another.
It's not the time to put anyone down. It’s time to wish everyone well, to speak truth, while still being sensitive to others' dreams, and if we cannot understand it or see it, it's okay let’s encourage one another anyways.
There is enough hurt and brokenness in these times, so my suggestion is;
“let’s learn to forgive,
lets love unconditionally and give beauty and good so good can one day come back to us,
Even if it’s in the shape a beautiful torn winged butterfly.”
Let's learn from everything that happens in our lives and remember:
Hurt people can only share hurt, damaged people can only damage, remember its all they have...
It does not mean that they are bad people...
They cannot give what they don't have!
Mitzy Coreano
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