Going the Full Phoenix
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
I learned a beautiful metaphor about transformation when I was in life coach training with Martha Beck. It’s a bit about how a caterpillar doesn’t go into a cocoon and slowly transform into a butterfly over time. It actually becomes caterpillar/butterfly goo, and somehow out of that - a butterfly later emerges. I have to admit that I am partial to the metaphor, because my name, Vanessa, means butterfly. Plus, I do a lot of transforming.
Lately all the transforming action has kicked it up a notch. It's been intense. I have been thinking about the legendary idea of a phoenix… a majestic bird that occasionally burns itself up completely in a glorious fiery moment, and then rises from the ash.
Now THAT sounds about like where I’ve been at during this transformation. I feel like we’re past goo. It is a whole lot more like a conflagration - touching all of the parts of my life. Fire cleanses, and it consumes.
Fire leaves ash. One thing about ash is that it helps grow things. It's nourishing. Much like the phoenix, most ecosystems worldwide need occasional fire to keep them healthy. Maybe we do too.
There is a point in any transformation where resisting it is futile. Whether you started the momentum, or it came from somewhere else - there is a point where resisting it just drags it out. You can try to fight the fire.
Or, you can go “Full Phoenix,” and embrace it.
Burn it up. Watch the burn. Feel the heat.
Now you are the ashes. Now you are ethereal. Something other than who you were. Fire transforms, and you have been through the fire.
Breathe.
And rise again.
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