Butterflies are Everywhere

Found these butterfly photos and decided to paint them. Not sure what was harder the butterfly or the background. Whenever I sit and start to paint it makes me lean in and look closer; makes me slow down and see the details. I appreciate the colors and the delicacy of the butterflies wings. A true work of God. Don’t you agree?

Sometimes it’s a struggle to find beauty and kindness in the world. During the pandemic true friends and loving family members that cared rose to the top. Phone calls and zooms meant so much. They could be brief or long; sad or silly. It didn’t really matter what we talked about. What mattered was that we reached out and someone else reached back.

What I’ve learned this past 15 months is to let some people go. I don’t hold any animosity or regrets. I now have more of a desire to spend my time with people who have made time for me. No more feeling like I have to, but doing more because I want to.

The crazy thing is that the people I haven’t heard from or rarely heard from will not even notice my silence. I didn’t stop loving or wishing them a good day or a good week. I am merely “matching” their effort for connection without any guilt on my part. I have had to ask myself am I the only one who seems to care? Do they wait to hear my response to “how are you”? Am I an obligation phone call? Covid made everything slow down. Made me do more self reflection. We all know our days are numbered. I don’t know how long my body will continue to work with me. I don’t know when my body will one day just stop working. That unknown makes me pause. I would rather look at beauty then think about pain and disappointment. Maybe this is what happens as we get older. We are less inclined to put up with the nonsense from others. We are more determined to live by our own valves, or maybe it is just me that is more determined.

So here’s to the butterflies quietly flying around us unaware of their own beauty. Sit back and enjoy the wonder.