Why do I choose the name Butterfly Ramblings? It’s easy really. What do you see when you see a butterfly?

When I see a butterfly, many thoughts spring to mind. Butterflies are so soft and fragile. They are delicate and vulnerable. This is much like how I see myself in many ways. Fragile, vulnerable, soft but perhaps not very delicate. If you had to stop and think about it for a moment. The journey of a butterfly’s life starts in a completely different form. It begins as an egg, to a caterpillar to pupae and finally emerges as a beautiful butterfly. Their journey is filled with many challenges and changes. So too is life! We all end up as something completely different from the baby borne from our mother’s womb. We are not born with the knowledge, or the physicality to walk, talk, or the ability to look after ourselves. But right from our birth, we are equipped with possibility.

We are born fragile and completely dependent on someone to look after us, nurture us and teach us. We are not born independent, but we are born with infinite possibilities. The possibility of growth, knowledge, and change. Maybe more importantly we are born with the capacity of one of life’s greatest gifts. Love. To love others and to feel love too.

Just as the butterfly begins its life as an egg. It hatches as a caterpillar. Its destiny will reveal a completely different form. As humans, we do not change our form as drastically. We are still capable of making recognisable likenesses from babies through to the various different stages of our lives. Babies, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults and actual adults. From there we progress to the elderly phase. Our transformation takes many many years to finish. A butterfly’s life cycle, depending on the species, can be as short as one month. It can also last up to an entire year. But you are not here to have a lesson on butterflies. But more to understand how I have made the comparison of myself to a butterfly. Who I am as a person and the many transformations that have taken place in my life to date.

Who am I today? Well, I wear many hats as most people do. I am first and foremost a mom to 3 incredible children. Although my eldest has grown up and flown the nest, making a nest of his own with his wife. I am still his mom and now have the added gift of a beautiful daughter-in-law. But mom is just one hat. I am also a daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, and partner. I am not a partner at the moment, but perhaps one day? I am also a teacher, chef, housekeeper, personal shopper, and a walking encyclopedia. Luckily we now have Alexa and google to help with this. Should you be of a certain age you might well remember a visit to the library. A necessity to access the information from an actual encyclopedia. Use the index to find what you are looking for. Then you had to actually take notes of the information. If you were lucky you would pay for a photocopy. Decadent times if you could afford to pay for a colour photocopy. Ooh, I could ramble on about this. Hence the Ramblings part of the blog name.

Who am I? Even though I wear the many hats mentioned above, there is so much more to me. I have a depth to me that not many people see. If I were to be brave, I would say that I am a singer, writer and poet. But I’m still not that brave. I hope that this will come in time as I explore my thoughts and feelings in this blog. Outwardly, I appear confident, and happy all the time. On the inside? There is so much more. Think of a chocolate eclair, the toffee. It has a hard outer shell with a soft, velvety chocolate surprise. No! I most definitely am not chocolate or velvet, but I am soft, and I have a good heart. I love, even when I know that there will be no love in return. I give of myself, not for recognition or as a weapon against others. I give to others as each and every person has their own hidden story. We all hide in one way or another. We wear a protective shell to shield and protect us from harm. Think of the bark from a tree. What is its purpose? When you look at it, it seems cracked and broken in places. If you run your fingers along its rough surface, you know that it is strong and fragile. It is the tree’s protective shell. It keeps the tree trunk safe and protected. It weathers many storms but still holds its form and stands firm in its purpose. I feel that this is what we all do at one stage or another. In my protective shell, I use humour to deflect my real feelings about life and situations that I can’t change. I find it an absolute necessity to survive. The stark reality is this: If all I thought about was the hurt and pain, the daily struggles. This would minimise all the good that can and does happen. The good that grows from pain. I am blessed in so many ways and I am grateful for the life, family, and friends that I have. But sometimes it is really important to release the hard stuff too.

So what will you see from this site? Variety, struggles, strength, laughter, joy, wins and losses. The delicate and the tough. I hope that you will continue to join me and perhaps, through my brutal honesty, the little bit of crazy. Maybe just maybe, I will be able to make you smile, laugh, and realise that you are not alone. I am here!

So this butterfly wishes you a very good night and I look forward to talking to you again soon.

Butterfly B