From Linda

We are all experiencing so much extra pressure and stress on our lives right now - and everyone is experiencing this pandemic in different ways.  The struggle is real, but also the opportunity for deep growth and transformation is among us during every moment of this crisis.

It's a powerful reminder that it's not what happens to us that defines us, but it's how we respond to what happens to us, that defines us.  

We can find other parallels to this as well.  A caterpillar does not become a butterfly without first cocooning itself, and the actual act of bursting out of the cocoon entails an enormous amount of pressure and tension.  That pressure and tension is a necessary part of it's evolution and cannot be rushed or bypassed. 

There is a parable about a man who saw a butterfly partially hanging out of its cocoon and struggling to get out, so the man cut the edges of the cocoon to assist.  The butterfly then fell to the ground and died, unable to fly because it wasn't given the struggle and tension that it needed in order to transform into the next version of itself.

Let's be patient with ourselves and with others as we are all going through this process of becoming butterflies.