A Word from the Valley (2011, Article 2)
After much consideration, I’ve decided that the word this week shall be: change. There are a plethora of changes being made to the world in various arenas, and over the last three decades, I’ve seen more changes than most of the decades before me. We’ve watched the end of the cold war, the failure of trickle-down economics, the fall of the Berlin wall, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, the blooming of the age of technology, the creation of the Internet, the dissolving of the Soviet Union, the split of Czechoslovakia, the death of many celebrities, and the rise of YouTube sensations. I’ve seen red M n Ms replaced with beige ones only to be replaced with red ones once more. I’ve watched Saturday morning cartoons fade and return and fade again. Dating has been replaced with online hookup sites and matchmaking services. The need to go to a grocery store has passed us by, as they can now be ordered and shipped with little to no effort. Families no longer head to the drive in for the latest flick; they just have to wait for someone to upload a torrent of the latest bootleg Hollywood hit. Of course, I can’t forget September 11 and the justice that was served a decade later with the recent death of Osama bin Laden. I never thought I’d live to see the day when an African American would become president, when a transgender women would become a federal judge, or a Muslim would become a presidential advisor. Yep, life has definitely changed since I was a boy.
I could spend hours talking about all the political and physical changes that the world has gone through in the last few decades, but that really wasn’t the purpose for the article. Growing up in the country and now living in Wonder Valley, I was afforded the opportunity to see the transformation of many of nature’s creatures. None was ever so mesmerizing to me than that of the butterfly. It never ceased to amaze me that a creature so tiny and misunderstood as a little green caterpillar could change into a butterfly. The caterpillar’s life is not an easy one. From the moment they hatch, they become the subject of predatory creatures and environmental hazards. Birds mock them from the boughs of trees only to swoop in and devour them. Pesticides lay in wait to take their fragile lives. The caterpillars skin is thin and frail, so much so that even the tiniest nick can be lethal. Winds and rains ravage their bodies, and almost everything around them is a potential threat. At some point, all of that hardship toughens them, surrounding them in a shell…a cocoon. It is during this time that the butterfly is at its most vulnerable and most reliant on the world to survive. If it is protected, nourished, cared for, and loved, it will remain intact allowing a powerful metamorphosis to occur. Within months, a butterfly emerges and takes to the heavens. Is it safe? Not really, but more so than it was in its youth. It’s grown and changed, learned and empowered.
This is the plight and power of the transgender community. So many of them grow up with struggles much like those of the caterpillar. They are born not entirely themselves. The emotions within cause them grief, an inner voice that mocks their bodies, and for some becomes their undoing. They live with ridicule and shame, heaped upon them by those around them. They are bullied and pushed around for being different. For some, it becomes too much and their lives end far too soon. Like the caterpillar, many of them are fragile emotionally, still fighting within themselves to reconcile their mind to their bodies. They live in ambiguity, between worlds, never really having a place…not because they aren’t welcome, but because they are waiting to become who they truly are. When the transgender person realizes that they are something more, when they know they can belong, they begin their transformation. Their cocoon is created from the adversity they knew as a child. They must rely on their true friends and real family to protect them and encourage them. They must draw nourishment from the boughs of determination and perseverance. When they finally reach the point of discovering all that they are, when the pupa of loyalty and kindness cracks open, they emerge a butterfly…that most beautiful thing that they were born to be.
Pay attention, my transgender friends. Some of you are caterpillars. Some of you are in cocoons. Some of you are on the brink of spreading your wings. Do not sell yourselves short. Do not be afraid of who you are and what you can become. Everything that you have been through and all that you are going through has culminated in this moment. Your trials and tribulations have empowered you. When you spread your wings to fly, know that you do so with the strength of a lifetime behind you. You have the potential to soar to heights that many of us could only dream of reaching. You have the unique ability to see the world from a point of view that few on this planet share. Distance and time are no longer your boundaries for you are liberated in the moment that you accept yourself. The body you dwell within is a but a shell and holds no limit over your mind and spirit, and that is where your true power lies. Use it! Wield it! Make the world tremble at your dedication and strength of conviction. Of all the groups of people on this planet, you more than other have the potential of living the words of Mahatma Ghandi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
I challenge you today to find a picture of a breath-taking butterfly and carry it with you as a symbol of freedom, change, and potential. When you feel down and troubled, you look at that butterfly and remember my words.
This week’s word inspired recipe is:
Butterfly Pie
1 package Duncan Hines Golden Sugar Cookie Mix
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/3 cup of white sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
6 to 7 of your favorite fruits, sliced (about a cup of each)
Prepare your cookie dough per the package instructions. Shape the dough into one large cookie and place on an ungreased pizza pan. Bake at 350 for 14 to 16 minutes (until the edges are light brown). Allow it to cool completely.
While your cookie dough is in the oven, prepare the filling by mixing the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and allow to reach room temperature. After your cookie dough has cooled, frost the cookie with the cream cheese filling. Refrigerate until chilled.
While your pie is chilling, slice your fruits. Be sure to slightly dry the fruit slices with a paper before placing them on your cookie pie. Once sliced and the pie is chilled, arrange the fruits on the cookie to look like a butterfly or flower. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
