Soaring

Sue Sill MonarchsLessons & Reflections from the National Butterfly Center

It’s my job at the National Butterfly Center, to see the big picture and plot a course for us to achieve abstract visions and concrete dreams.  Sometimes the future seems so fantastical I cannot imagine ever reaching there.  Other times, I get bogged down in the mapping and weary from the steering. 

When this happens, I can usually be found crying at my desk. 

My son says this is necessary to clean the pollen, dust and bird poop off my windshield to the world.

“You know, Mom, all that nasty stuff like bug guts that gets stuck there and makes it hard to see,” explains Nicholas.

Yes, bug guts and budgetary restraints, broken equipment and all the blasted, unexpected things that make some days feel like a whack-a-mole death match!

Each battle is a stress-filled sprint that seems to drain my batteries, deplete my reserves and leave me feeling buried and blinded.

When I get myopic, unimaginative and nearsighted, I feel like I’m flying at low altitude and coming in for a crash landing. Small things grow large, pathways narrow and goals become very short-term, like survival, and this sucks!

Life is better when you’re a butterfly.  With compound eyes, technicolor vision and finely-tuned antennae, one employs supernatural abilities to deftly soar and sort a wide spectrum of dangers and delights across the landscape.  Enhanced perception and agility make for nimble navigation and the world is full of endless possibilities. This is SWEET.

So repeat after me: Today, I will be a butterfly. Today, I will be a butterfly. Today, I will be a butterfly!

Let go of what weighs you down. Wipe away the muck that clouds your vision. Kick off the dust and rise. You, too, are meant to be a butterfly.

Image: Flight of the Monarchs (C) Sue Sill.  Sill is a former director of the National Butterfly Center and a celebrated artist. Her work is now available in wearable designs through Vida & Co

 
 

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Inside the National Butterfly Center

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Open 7 Days a Week 
8:00 - 5:00
364 Days / Year

Closed Easter Sunday

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National Butterfly Center
3333 Butterfly Park Drive
Mission, TX 78572
956-583-5400
GPS Coordinates:
26.180243 -98.364973

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