We Are Like the Butterfly

There are some people who have difficulty writing. I don't understand why they do. Writing has always been easy for me. As a young person living in a cold climate and suffering from polio, I was frequently bedridden. I found comfort in my books. Now this was before video games and You Tube.I loved words and like the strict Ursuline nuns who taught me English, I can detect a misspelled word immediately.

I recently spent some time with friends at dinner. These friends are fellow actors. We commiserated over the lack of opportunities for disabled actors and how expensive acting classes are.

I have decided that I would like to write something for them. I enjoy getting to know their stories. We all have one; a story. It shapes us into who we are today. Acting and writing is a creative outlet for me and for them.

At a recent acting class, my friend received some direction. He was told to tell us a story; one that he had never shared with anyone. He told us the true story of being physically abused as a child by his own mother. He told us how he was removed from his abusive home and placed into child protective custody. It was difficult to hear and difficult to watch.

My other friend shared how she went through a difficult divorce. I could see that she is still trying to figure out what she had done wrong. The answer was nothing. She had done nothing wrong. It was he who was unfaithful to her and yet she still wanted answers.

There is so much pain in this world. We each have a story. Perhaps we are like the little larvae crawling into our safe cocoon. We crawl through the difficulties of our respective lives and hopefully will emerge into a beautiful butterfly. That is my hope for them. I just hope we don't get eaten up by the large spiders of the world.