Tag Archives: Springtime

How To Unlock Caterpillar Logic

Growing up in New Orleans for me was a privilege, that I don’t take for granted in my childhood. It meant good food, lively music, snowballs, and a rich culture. It also meant around spring time caterpillars would hang from my grandparents oak trees!

 

I dreaded caterpillars because they were very thick and sticky. There was often a host of caterpillars all crammed together like a pack of sardines. April and May, in particular, meant caterpillars would be everywhere from the sidewalks, bushes, and my grandmother’s porch. This did not mean much to my grandfather when he’d want assistance in cleaning the sidewalk.

“Come on out here boy, this sidewalk won’t brush itself!!” He’d yell.

“But he’s hysterical of those caterpillars!” Gammie would plead!

I’m thankful my Gammie always had my back and considered how I felt! It is through her care and concern, I never had to help my pops clean around outside during the spring! Luckily, I had a brother who didn’t mind as much! 😀

I never shook my fear of them until I left New Orleans. I didn’t see them at all in Texas although I noticed on occasion, I’d catch small moths and butterflies. I’ve grown to appreciate the caterpillar because of its developmental changes. I reference their process often in my life. Looking back at how afraid I was, I now see a misguided fear. Was I afraid of growing? Could I soon break free from the cocoon? The more I learned about their process, the more I appreciated their relevance in all living existence.

I made a short video breaking down an allegorical connection between caterpillars and the flow of your ideas!

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Opaque

(If you rather listen instead of reading – CLICK HERE)

Opaque –  not transmitting radiation, sound, heat, etc.

This disturbance of my peace steady lingers in my opaque heart. I am wishing to find a balanced memory. One that isn’t tainted by the lullabies of betrayal or bad news.

If there’s one thing we have an abundance of, is plastic! Bad News is like plastic. I don’t think we’re even aware of how well versed we are with the bad news cycle.

It’s not particularly beneficial long or short term if not met with balanced stories that service positivity.

I feel this even more so as a person of color. People of color are so well versed in trauma, that we’ve internalized the mere occurrence by heavily sharing it out of outrage.

We even urge others to make videos VIRAL of police brutality or some form of prejudice. While this may certainly bring necessary attention – if we only do this without proper balanced good news, none of it has the potential to serve us any good.

We justify this as to bring awareness to brutality which in many ways are important.

The key to solving this conundrum is knowing that you don’t have to tolerate the constant bad news cycle.

There’s just as much good news as bad news, it just tends to be dressed and packaged in the commonly disposable (plastic) reaction…“ aww how sweet” whereas devastating news or sad news is packaged as “conscious or necessary to know”.

If our collective good and productive contributions are rarely acknowledged at the expense of plastic, easily produced bad news – this rubric can’t be to our advantage.

What we should know but often forget is those bad things has been happening since the dawn of humanity. This doesn’t mean we can’t sympathize with those affected by trauma but that we should correlate it with the bigger picture. *things are much better now than before!*

We should also remember those good things are in abundance as well.

Remember the good things and do good things unexpectedly. Share good things even the ones that seem important.

Even the small good things, like you, had your favorite meal today or that you got a smile from someone who doesn’t typically smile. Good things don’t have a rubric of interest.

If sharing those good things are received by a simple – “aww how cool” or even the unconventional thumbs up! We can learn to appreciate that. The alternative often involves a non-productive response which can end up making you feel worst than before.

In light of this awareness, I am developing a new rule: If you’re gonna share bad news, meet it with something cool or even weird. Weird is better than bad. Cool is more informative than bad.

The bad news cycle isn’t always unnecessary but not always useful either.

Hindsight tends to laugh at our previous business.

Indeed we are often shady businessman – making deals impulsively not properly planning quarterly.

My prudential interest serves me because I was taught to consider my own values. Self-care is not just about pampering but taking care of fundamental needs.

I have come to bite the fruit of despair.

If seeing you there meant believing in our dream, I would not hesitate to go asleep.

Now I can’t be seen as truly wanting absolution.

From the morning complaints to the afternoon joke that turned sour.

The evening sun casts a gloomy indifference.

Who’s to say what it could mean?

We are locked in the chain of belittling attacks.

To be understood is our misfire.

We’ve stepped in the sulking cold, right when springtime arrived.

Never late but hardly in time for our lifestyles.

Will they ever mesh? Or could we ever be more than our aging flesh?

I thought that together with our growth would make time for all the rest.

But sometimes, shortcomings are aging truths that remain on the viral dial.

In my halls of shallow emotions, still, I write.

To be known for who I am and whom I will become without a fight.

We are all but a forgotten flower.

Purchased for the dining set table.

But we simply seem unable and that is why my opaque heart longs…for good news packaged in a reusable material.