The Colors of Butterfly Wings

Dear Friend,

Moldova is a place of exploration because each step and each turn is an adventure with hidden gems for thought and experience. Yesterday, I walked around Valea Morilor Park. This is a lake with a beautiful walking area around it. In addition, they have walking pathways through the trees surrounding the area. These walking paths often lead to random resting areas with adventures or activities. For example, one path leads to a full-sized chess board where many people play the classic game of strategies and where children play with the pieces in their own world. Another pathway leads to a butterfly exhibit. This wonderer's lodge in the trees is the perfect place to visit and marvel at the resulting beauty of transformation.

This is where I found myself yesterday. On a warm Saturday, I stumbled upon this hidden garden of delicate wonderment. As I watched the fluttering of delicate, colorful wings, I found myself looking inward and noticing how I have transformed over the years—from a frightened and nervous American lost in a world that was totally unfamiliar to someone comfortable with not needing to understand everything.

When I look at the wings of butterflies, I see all colors, dark and light, bright and magical. And like the butterflies, not all my colors are magical or exciting. Some are dull and common. But when I took a step back, I saw that all the colors needed to be completed. All colors and experiences are needed to allow me to grow and achieve what I was placed on this earth to do.

This is a lesson that I find hard to keep in the front of my mind when the dark clouds roll in, but at the end of the day, the sun will always come out, and all of our colors will shine.