I love this image... a caterpillar who is trying so hard to become a butterfly. A caterpillar with post its and vision boards. When what she needs is to release and give into the mush. It feels like a surrender but also a trust in something core and innate that's just dormant in us. That we have imaginal cells somewhere in there.
I've felt this in some new ways recently in my professional life. Recognizing that I am no longer the twenty-something employee who needs to be the eager go-getter for every project, agreeing and people-pleasing along the way to maintain positive relationships and relying on charm and hustle to get ahead. Now, I'm in the latter half of my thirties with a child in elementary school and a good amount of experience in the books. I have been tapping into my own authority, trusting my knowledge and experience, leading from the front (not just from behind anymore), and not shying away from being a mother with specific scheduling needs in my life that don't apply to my teammates without children (and trying not to feel guilty or overcompensate for that). It feels like a new body in some ways (somewhere between caterpillar and butterfly), and sometimes I slip back into those learned behaviors, but I look to the other confident, authoritative, compassionate female leaders in my industry and beyond (lovely, resilient butterflies) that set strong and collaborative examples that inspire and remind me to continue pushing through the mess (mush) and to trust those innate imaginal cells at work.
"trust those innate imaginal cells at work" -- yes!
We tell our kids that they grow the most when they are sleeping. Maybe that works for us, too? At least that's what I told myself when I went back to bed this morning for two hours after the school bus came!
I love this image too! It makes me think of a bunch of “mushy people” working through the discomfort of being in between or in transition in some way.
Something I find kind of fascinating from a psychological perspective is how difficult it can be to “admit”you’re in a “mushy moment” but then simultaneously how liberating it can be to hear someone we respect or admire admit just the same. I guess one take away is that support in the form of connecting with people with shared experiences can be so helpful to move through these moments with a little more ease and make it to the butterfly stage on the other side (or, perhaps more importantly, help you realize when you have in fact made it to the butterfly stage, which I think can be hard to even identify for high achievers with perfectionist tendencies).
"or, perhaps more importantly, help you realize when you have in fact made it to the butterfly stage, which I think can be hard to even identify for high achievers with perfectionist tendencies"
I love this image... a caterpillar who is trying so hard to become a butterfly. A caterpillar with post its and vision boards. When what she needs is to release and give into the mush. It feels like a surrender but also a trust in something core and innate that's just dormant in us. That we have imaginal cells somewhere in there.
I've felt this in some new ways recently in my professional life. Recognizing that I am no longer the twenty-something employee who needs to be the eager go-getter for every project, agreeing and people-pleasing along the way to maintain positive relationships and relying on charm and hustle to get ahead. Now, I'm in the latter half of my thirties with a child in elementary school and a good amount of experience in the books. I have been tapping into my own authority, trusting my knowledge and experience, leading from the front (not just from behind anymore), and not shying away from being a mother with specific scheduling needs in my life that don't apply to my teammates without children (and trying not to feel guilty or overcompensate for that). It feels like a new body in some ways (somewhere between caterpillar and butterfly), and sometimes I slip back into those learned behaviors, but I look to the other confident, authoritative, compassionate female leaders in my industry and beyond (lovely, resilient butterflies) that set strong and collaborative examples that inspire and remind me to continue pushing through the mess (mush) and to trust those innate imaginal cells at work.
"trust those innate imaginal cells at work" -- yes!
We tell our kids that they grow the most when they are sleeping. Maybe that works for us, too? At least that's what I told myself when I went back to bed this morning for two hours after the school bus came!
I love this image too! It makes me think of a bunch of “mushy people” working through the discomfort of being in between or in transition in some way.
Something I find kind of fascinating from a psychological perspective is how difficult it can be to “admit”you’re in a “mushy moment” but then simultaneously how liberating it can be to hear someone we respect or admire admit just the same. I guess one take away is that support in the form of connecting with people with shared experiences can be so helpful to move through these moments with a little more ease and make it to the butterfly stage on the other side (or, perhaps more importantly, help you realize when you have in fact made it to the butterfly stage, which I think can be hard to even identify for high achievers with perfectionist tendencies).
thank you for sharing :)
"or, perhaps more importantly, help you realize when you have in fact made it to the butterfly stage, which I think can be hard to even identify for high achievers with perfectionist tendencies"
I don't know what you're talking about :-)