Butterfly Day

The other day I was on the library app, Libby, searching for a particular audiobook to borrow. It was not available, but one with an intriguing title was suggested to me: “Soul Bloom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution”. Even more interesting: the author was Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight from “The Office”.

I borrowed the audio book and when I noticed that Chapter 3 was called “Death, and How to Live It” I skipped right ahead.

I remember another phase of my life in which I avoided movies, articles, and books about “real life” death. It felt dark and scary; a topic to be avoided.

I can look back and see now that the society I was raised in chose not to honor- or even talk about death. Perhaps it was deemed too morbid or depressing.

What I’ve discovered is that there are many different perspectives about this transition that we will all experience, and this is why I was so excited to listen to Chapter Three. I love the idea of shifting our collective modern society’s perspective so that we create lives in joy and freedom instead of fear and a need to “control”.

At about two hours and ten minutes of the audio book, Rainn (who begins the chapter with his father’s passing), shares an abundance of beautiful quotes about death. I listened to this section of the book about seven times, as the words resonated so deeply within me. I could feel the truth within my being.

Here are two quotes that really tickled my fancy.

Rumi- “Die happily and look forward to taking up a new and better form. Like the sun, only when you set in the west can you rise in the east.”

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross: “Death is simply a shedding of the physical body like the butterfly shedding its cocoon. It is a transition to a higher state of consciousness where you continue to perceive, to understand, to laugh, and to be able to grow. The only thing you lose is something that you don’t need anymore, your physical body. It’s like putting away your winter coat when spring comes, you know that the coat is shabby and you don’t want to wear it anymore. That’s virtually what death is all about.”

In my last podcast, I talked about my mom passing.

The day before she died, I received this in my Inner Being journal: “Oh dear child of light, your momma is indeed on the journey of saying “yes”. Yes to eternal love and eternal peace. The precious and divine soul, the unique spark of Source is always “here” and “there”, as we have shared in love and joy. Your dear momma is the golden thread, weaving and connecting this brilliant family unit. We invite you to perceive this not as an end, but an entrance into expansion and moreness. If you may tune into the rejoicement and love of evermore, we meet you there. This fullness, this richness leaves no space for fear, it simply can not be.”

Even if you are thinking, couldn’t you be making all this up? Who cares? If believing that death is the beginning of a new adventure allows me to live a freer, fuller, more joyful and less fearful life, why wouldn’t I be a believer?

I want to talk about death. I want to be free from fear. I want to celebrate and honor my mom’s transition. I want to collect butterfly signs and tune into her eternal energy.

June 13th, according to a decade old entry in my mom’s journal, is Butterfly Day. My family and I are honoring her unique personality and joys on this planet by wearing bold outfits (including hot pink socks and sandals), writing cards, journaling gratitudes, complimenting strangers, and drinking cosmos.

If any of those actions sound fun to you, please join us in the celebration!

Although my mom’s physical body is no longer with us, I feel her love everyday. I see aspects of her uniqueness as inspirations for new creation, twirling around on this planet and cocreating expansions into more love, more joy, more peace.