Tag: Photos

Connecting to the wonder we are

A Butterfly’s Unexpected Surprises

Erin Keane

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here in the Northeast. The birds were singing, plants were growing, children were playing, dogs were running, and butterflies were dancing. I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph a butterfly up-close, but yesterday I did. It was a wonderful, unexpected surprise and completely brightened my day. 

The wonder of the experience wasn’t just that I saw a butterfly, but that the butterfly ( A Red Admiral) stayed around my yard for a good 25 minutes and let me come up close to photograph him (most likely a male).  In fact at one point he landed on my arm and sat there for a good minute. It was like he was saying to me, “I’m happy to see you. It’s my pleasure to be photographed by you.”

Butterflies are known for symbolism:

  • Resurrection
  • Transition
  • Celebration
  • Lightness
  • Time
  • Soul

While I was outside with the butterfly, I definitely felt a sense of “lightness;” it was as if my soul/the deeper part of me was feeling better and lighter just by being in the presence of this magnificent creature. I felt so utterly honored that this butterfly felt safe and comfortable around me, and my camera.  Have you ever been near an animal in the natural world, who just seemed to welcome your presence? What was that like for you?

As I watched this butterfly open his wings to the sun—soaking up the warmth and the light– it reminded me of how I too need to soak up the sunlight, and be renewed. It was as though this butterfly was affirming my human experience of needing light…and at the same time he was inspiring renewal/resurrection within my heart and my soul by being so welcoming of me.

As I was enjoying these moments, unexpectedly another Red Admiral Butterfly appeared, and I was blessed with the invitation to watch them dance around my yard, until they came to a place of rest upon the bark of a tree.

The butterfly left me with a wonderful gift: Because the butterfly welcomed me, I felt like someone knew I needed this. And it reminded me yesterday, today and always, that when we seek with our heart, our longings will be answered…maybe not always in the ways we expect, but in ways that we NEED. I needed this butterfly to come into my life: I needed to be reminded that I am never alone…and that when I really need an experience of grace it will be provided for me.

How about you, have you ever had something wonderful happen to you, that filled you with an unexpected experience of Grace?

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

Life

Maybe it’s Beyond My Control, But I Will Find a Way To Conquer!

Erin Keane

Oh, that unfortunate feeling of anxiety, filled me up with so much worry! But once I got my bearings, took a breath…well actually a few. Sat back, reflected. Talked it out, and of course Wrote about it…it slowly began to lose it’s power. As it lost its power, I was able to see more clearly and react in a proactive and positive way. Seeing more clearly, I actually took the time to read my emails–the enjoyable ones I don’t usually make enough time for… It seems like for whatever reason, when you put your trust in the energy of the world as benevolent towards you, the answers you need fall right in your lap.

I read,

I bet you don’t always feel like a conqueror-there is often so much to deal with in life that is beyond our control.
–Spirit of Life Community/Ministry

The minister mentions in reply, that she is reading a book by John O’Donohue called, Beauty:the Invisible Embrace:Rediscovering the true sources of compassion, serenity and hope.
O’Donohue writes,

We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul. For a while the strains of struggle and endurance are relieved and our frailty is illuminated by a different light in which we come to glimpse behind the shudder of appearances in the sure form of things. In the experience of Beauty we awaken and surrender in the same act. Beauty brings a sense of completion and sureness. Without any of the usual calculation, we can slip into the Beautiful with the same ease as we slip into the seamless embrace of water; something ancient within us already trusts that this embrace will hold us…”

Okay, I thought, somehow beauty is going to help me conquer today. I’m not sure how, but it is. I went out in my yard with my son and stood there and listened to the birds sing while he played in the sandbox.

I really listened. And somehow my heart began to ease even more.

I looked up at the beautiful buds, and the little baby leaves, blowing in the wind.
And I was profoundly aware that I was a part of something greater than myself…Something Beautiful…something loving, something telling me, it’s going to be okay…

I took a deep breath and soaked this in.

And last night before I went to bed, I took pictures of the flowers I brought inside to keep the sense of sureness & completion that the Beautiful was providing me with earlier that day.

So I did conquer! I don’t feel like life is beyond my control any longer…well at least for today! Because I’m connected to something greater than me…and I know I’m not the only one who gets anxious. We all do. And knowing that makes the feeling much more bearable. We all know what it’s like. We’ve all been there… And we WILL CONQUER if we just give ourselves the chance!

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.