As summer comes to greet us, many things change here in the great city of Chicago. The beach is flooded, the streets are more busy, and tourists flock downtown, wicker park, and wrigleyville. Chicago summers are superb, despite the extreme fluxuation of weather. Both extremes always bring something good. The best part about summer is being outside.
The other day, after a game of pool with my friend, we were sitting outside the quad. Butterflies were gliding about, and I noticed one as it landed adjacent to my hand. It opened and closed its wings magnificently, flaunting its beauty and flexing its frame. I slowly began to move my hand towards it. Thinking it would flee, I was pleasantly surprised when it willingly stepped onto my fingers. As I brought it close to my face, I realized how beautifully and complex God has created this creature. There I sat, butterfly in hand, mesmerized by the folding and unfolding of its wings. When my friend tried to take a picture of this serene moment, it ended all too soon with its exit into the air, Cruising on a jagged, jerky flight pattern. After this, the wheels started to spin in my head.
As a child, I would often chase and capture animals because I enjoyed observing them up close. I recall catching butterflies by grabbing them by the wings. Watching them struggle to get away at my interests expense. When I let them go, they struggled to get back into the air. My mother then informed me to never grab a butterfly by its wings because there is a special powder on them that helps them fly. This made them increasingly more difficult to catch, but I abode by this unwritten rule for myself. Even though a butterfly is simply an insect, I have respected it and never done so since.
Today, I learned that sometimes, we cannot seize things right away, as much as I would like to think. Sometimes, we have to let them come to us and in the end, we will be rewarded. Even if it is only to ourselves. We cannot force things, or risk the suspension of flight in the future. Something with a gift so incredible, such as flight, can be so fragile. Some things must choose us. We must work with them, as they work with us. We may benefit, or we may simply interact.
Song of the mood
