During my sophomore year of college, I published my first opinion piece with The Daily News. It focused on the importance of monarch butterflies, why we should do everything we can to protect them and what makes me so passionate about saving their population.
They remind me of my mother and the trips we took to the zoo just to stand inside of a tent full of flowers and colorful, flapping wings. They make me think of my aunt, who spends her summers planting milkweed, collecting eggs and feeding hundreds of hungry caterpillars until they tuck themselves away in their cocoons and emerge later on with their burnt orange and crisp black wings as fragile as a piece of tissue paper. They bring back memories of my little cousin standing on the back porch with monarch butterflies crawling up her dress and making her giggle, and they symbolize my mimi, who I know is saying hi to me within the flutters of every butterfly who floats gracefully around me.
If you know me well enough, you know that my love for butterflies stretches far beyond just those four reasons above, that I decorate my college dorm with pictures of monarchs and even named my blog after the insect.
Butterflies don’t only give me a sense of nostalgia, but, monarchs specifically, always inspire me. Every summer, the monarch butterflies travel nearly 3,000 miles south to Mexico to reach their home for the winter, flying upwards of 50 to 100 miles a day to complete their journey, which can take up to two months to complete. Yet, no matter how much distance they have yet to cover, how tired their fragile wings become from flying dozens of miles in the heat every day, they continue to flap and fly, all the way to the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Not only are butterflies a symbol of hope and perseverance for me, but they have now become a sign from Mimi, a reminder that she is flying with me everywhere I go.
In cultures around the world, butterflies represent the human soul. Many believe that the butterfly’s circle of life mirrors that of a human. We begin our journey as a young caterpillar, hungry and yearning to grow and learn as much as we can, until we have reached our maximum wisdom, lived our life and have to say goodbye, curling up in our cocoons for a peaceful rest, only to later emerge as a butterfly — a free and beautiful soul ready for its next journey to the afterlife.
Mimi’s soul was and remains the most beautiful soul I have ever seen. Her wings are painted with the colors of her wisdom and memories as she dances in the summer air beneath the rays of the sun, saying hello to her loved ones and reminding all of us that she is still with us, watching over us from a better and happier place.
And, so, to honor her, and to hold my loved ones close to my heart, I decided I wanted them all to draw their own butterflies — their own, unique versions of their souls — and tattoo them in their favorite colors down my spine, where they will forever have my back and watch me grow until I emerge with wings of my own.
Fly with me again soon,
Taylor 🦋
P.S. I made an Instagram account for my blog! Feel free to follow me for more writing updates @shesbutterflying.
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