Attention, Transitions, Transformation
Attention, Transitions, Transformation
I have been fortunate recently to get to observe the life cycle of monarchs. I find tiny eggs and caterpillars on my milkweed plants and bring them to a butterfly house on our back porch. Here I get to watch them grow and transform as they move through their life cycle. There have been caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies on our porch for nearly two months. I released the last ones this week.
The many transitions of the monarch’s life draw my attention. They double in size several times while eating milkweed before finding a place to make a first transition into a chrysalis. The chrysalis undergoes its own changes, becoming translucent to reveal the wings inside about a day or two before the final butterfly emerges. I notice how these moments of transformation are vulnerable. A couple caterpillars did not make it into a chrysalis, another chrysalis was discolored and never emerged. As a witness, I get to see the losses as well as the amazing transformation.
This second year of raising butterflies also reminds me how our lives have transitioned since last autumn. Last year, I was thankful for moments of attention and awe shared with family; the caterpillars and butterflies were a point of connection. Their transformation was predictable, yet wondrous, offering a focus amid the challenges of a very unusual fall season. This year, my oldest is beginning college and my youngest is back at school and able to drive himself to extracurricular activities. This year the butterflies help remind me of the importance of letting go. My family jokes that our dog is jealous of so many extra pets. I reassure him that we are just fostering the butterflies. They can’t be kept. That is the wonder and beauty of this – we can help provide a safe place for their transformation but then we release them into the world for the rest of their journey, full of beauty and fragility.
Times of transition invite and require our attention. For my workshop at Goodwin House, I shared the practice of attending to changing light and color of the hours of the day as a spiritual and creative practice. Thinking about my own practice, dawn and dusk bring the most wonder; it is the changing light that captivates. This is true of the seasons of the year too; I am most drawn to spring and autumn. As I visit my tree each day in winter, it becomes hard to imagine that the bare branches will be filled with green, and then, suddenly, one day the buds begin. Attending each day allows me to notice the slow wonder of this arrival. Similarly, now, I anticipate the color change and loss of the leaves in autumn. So far, the forest remains mostly green. I notice the changing light with an earlier sunset and the glow of light through leaves in the evening. Soon, green will turn toward a palette of reds and yellows that will glow in the late afternoon sun.
As I reflect on all the transitions in my own life, I am aware of how attention helps me through times of uncertainty and newness. Transformation is different than transition, it implies an entirely new configuration of a system, a new form. Transition might be the journey to transformation. However, I am not sure it is required to transform to get through a transition. Sometimes transition is simply weathering life’s ups and downs. The practice of attention can help with this and, like the butterflies, may lead to a day when, while attending to transition, we notice a larger transformation has happened. This might be a transformation of roles, relationships, or outlook. It is the slower work of attention in transitions that can help this larger transformation to happen. As I watch caterpillars, chrysalises, and butterflies on my back porch, I don’t get the sense they have grand goals. And yet, each attends to the tasks and timing of the next step of growth which eventually leads to transformation.
One transition I am working on in my creative life is building routines for writing. I began a book on creative practice two years ago and am returning to that project this fall. I am exploring to ways to shift my routine to make time and space for writing. Part of that is continuing to share and seek feedback through this newsletter. I’d love to hear about your experiences with attention, transitions, and transformation.
My exhibit at Goodwin House continues through the end of October. Click here for information and directions for visiting.
You can preview the exhibit on my website and find reproductions of my Mother Trees cut paper series in my Etsy Store.
Creative Practice Invitation: Hours of the Day
Notice the changing colors at the different hours of the day as a practice of attention, wonder and devotion.
Wake early to see the sky transform at sunrise.
Notice the brightness at midday.
Pay attention to the changing light and sky colors of sunset in the evening.
As night falls, look for points of light,
shadows, stillness.
Thank you for reading and being a part of creative community through this newsletter.
With a grateful heart,
Kathryn