3D Butterflies

I walked into the dark IMAX theater a few minutes late. Without my special 3D glasses, I saw fuzzy orange butterfly images and greenery. In the crowd, kids stood in front of their chairs with their arms out in expectation. I chose a seat up high so I could enjoy the movie and the children trying to catch monarch magic.

“Flight of the Butterflies” is 45 minutes of delight. In the film, we get to see masses of monarch butterflies migrating to the wilds of Mexico for winter and returning in the spring.

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash

As I exited the theater, I remembered being a child and not wanting to turn in my glasses. I didn’t care to surrender what felt like the key to the magic. Confession: as an adult in my early 20s, I decided to take some 3D glasses home with me. In my mind, I knew I needed the special screen to make them work. In my heart, I was fulfilling a childhood longing: to have access to the wonder anytime.

I think about those kids reaching for butterflies. Unlike the other adults in the audience, I reached out my hands multiple times too. Of course, just as I knew my glasses wouldn’t produce results without the screen, I knew my hands wouldn’t make butterfly contact in the theater. But it felt so nice to lift them up and embrace what was before me: the realness of the monarch journey.

 Soft butterfly wings didn’t kiss my fingers, but they fluttered past my body and I felt connection. Their beauty wasn’t tactical, but it was encompassing.

Recently, I tried so hard to give a family member a special gift. A gift of my presence. Ultimately, after calling and texting and emailing, I had to surrender that, for whatever unknowable reason, the gift wasn’t going to be received. To quote the recently released documentary, “GIFT”, “When you give someone a gift, you are taking a risk that the person might not want what you are giving.”

I had to try.

I, like those kids, don’t want to stop reaching out. It is the attempt—even if it’s not physically received—that can bring a form of connection. In my case, I know I was connecting to what I felt was loving and right. And even though my efforts were met with the air, it had to be enough.

 What do you continuously reach for in your life? What brings you meaningful connection, even if it is butterfly-fleeting?

Remember,

Your Brave Tutu (You’re brave, too-too!)

-Take courage in delight. Discover power in small moments.

Note: “Flight of the Butterflies” was playing at the Bullock Museum’s IMAX.