In a new place? Great! But before that, it's caterpillar soup 🥣

Caterpillar soup...🐛🦋

We've talked about this before, right? The whole caterpillar-turning-into-a-butterfly thing? And how most of us (including yours truly) thought that somehow caterpillars tucked themself all nice 'n' snug into a chrysalis (or cocoon - we're not judging) and then sort of...I don't know, something like one of those Transformers, except instead of going from a car to a robot, it elongated its legs, pulled some caterpillar body up into a wing, and bing-bang-boom, one butterfly ready to go. 

But the truth is they don't. They turn into caterpillar soup first. They just sort of...dissolve into goop, while they're rearranging themselves towards being something incredible and beautiful that can fly. And even though they are just a tiny bucket of goo, they know who they are, they know what they're going to be, and they know how to get there.

And it's only painful if they try to rush the process.

But also, it's worse if they don't change.

You're not meant to stay a caterpillar forever!

Sure, you know where are the good leaves are, and you've gotten good at avoiding the larger birds, but...would you rather be hiding from house sparrows and living a 'good enough' caterpillar life? Or would you rather be a butterfly, taking a moment to rest and then flying across the freaking Great Lakes, because butterflies, for all that they look dainty and delicate, can do that, just wing their way across the flipping Great Lakes on their way to Mexico for a life of adventure. 

The cool thing is that inside a chrysalis, caterpillars have specialized cells called imaginal discs (that name?! Right?!) that survive the process and rebuild the butterfly from scratch. Those cells were present the entire time the caterpillar existed.

Which means the butterfly was always there. It just needed the right stage to emerge.

It's scary taking the next step. That's OK. Just give yourself the time. And surround yourself with other like-minded Lepidoptera who are ready to make the same trip in their own way. 

Because that's butterfly city. That's where you go to find like-minded people who will buffer you from the wind while you learn new techniques, and find the best way to help you learn how to give a leg up to other caterpillars. 

So if you’re currently feeling like a slightly confused caterpillar… or possibly a bucket of mid-transformation goo, don’t worry. That’s not failure. That’s just the process. That's just humaning..

And the good news is that butterflies don’t learn to fly alone. They travel together, catch the wind together, and sometimes rest on the same branch before the next stretch of sky. And some, like the Monarch butterflies, who go from Canada to Mexico and back again? Every single butterfly on that trip has never taken it before. But they still know where they're going - even if they don't know how they know. 

Scientists don't understand exactly how they do it, although they have their suspicions. And that's ok. Because science helps us understand things and explain things, but the weird 'n' wild world we walk in proceeds to be astounding while it waits for science to explain what it's already doing.  

So wherever you are in your own transformation - leaf-eating, cocoon-building, or wing-testing - we’re glad you’re here with us.

Welcome to butterfly city.