making a space for change

The winter is passing, and spring will soon be here. The garden is waiting for the warmth of the spring sunshine to reawaken it and start bringing life back into the dormant plants. Spring is the time for change: moving, removing, sometimes a wholesale redesign of the garden plan. Sounds like a lot of work!
I think of myself, and my own internal garden. Change and growth are hard. Much more so, a complete remake of my life and purpose. We do not often undertake such a project unless forced to - but when force is applied, one must move.
As I reluctantly considered the amount of work involved in making a substantial change, lazybones that I am, I remembered the humble caterpillar, who undergoes a complete and radical change in becoming a butterfly. It occurred to me that the butterfly does no work; it just appears. Where, then, does the hard work take place? It’s the caterpillar who provides all the effort and resources, in building the cocoon.
And what is a cocoon? Merely a space for change to occur. This is the secret I discovered in this meditation. The worm works hard to create the cocoon - the space for change. Once it’s done, the worm rests, and change happens on its own. It’s built in. And the butterfly emerges when it’s time.
In order to effect change, I must first make room for that change to occur. Now, where did I put my spinning silk? ...