Struggle Brings Strength
Butterfly & Cocoon
Have you seen anyone with a semicolon necklace or earrings or a bracelet? Have you asked them what it means? It is meant as a conversation starter. So what does a semi-colon mean in a sentence? It means that your sentence is not over yet. A semicolon shared in public takes on a very similar meaning (visit projectsemicolon.com for more information.) – it means that your story is not over yet. You have chosen to continue. There are 1 billion people with mental illness worldwide. 1.1 million people die by suicide annually worldwide.
Project semicolon is a project designed to give strength to those who are hurting. If you see someone with a semicolon bracelet or semicolon earrings, chances are they know someone who is affected by mental health. Take the time to ask them about their story or their friend’s story. Who knows what kind of story they have to tell? You might be surprised!
The mission of project semicolon is “In literature, an author uses a semicolon to not end a sentence but to continue on… we see it as you are the author, and your life is the sentence. You're choosing to keep going!
The semicolon can also be a sign of mental health awareness or that you are supporting a friend who has a mental illness.
I recently got a semicolon tattoo myself. I have bipolar disorder so I got mine for mental health awareness.
I added a butterfly to mine for a couple of reasons: the butterfly is to represent the renewal of life and new beginnings through a butterfly’s transformation.
The butterfly also represents my new life in Christ, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV
Here’s a short story (Jesus called them parables) that reminds us of the further meaning that God created in the butterfly’s story.
“Many of us know that a beautiful and colorful butterfly comes from an ugly caterpillar! However, this butterfly was never able to live its life as a normal butterfly.
One day, a man saw a cocoon. He loved butterflies and had a craze for their wonderful combination of colors. In fact, he used to spend a lot of time around butterflies. He knew how a butterfly would struggle to transform from an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly.
He saw the cocoon with just a tiny opening. It meant that the butterfly was trying to make its way out to enjoy the world. He decided to watch how long it would take the butterfly to come out of the cocoon. He watched for more than 10 hours with the cocoon and the butterfly. The Caterpillar was so tired. It was almost like the caterpillar couldn’t try anymore.
Even after 10 hours, there was really no progress. The butterfly was not getting out of the tiny hole in the caterpillar’s shell. The man who had a passion and love for butterflies, decided to help the butterfly, just a little bit. He got a pair of scissors and tweaked the cocoon to be a larger opening, then removed the remaining cocoon. The butterfly emerged without any struggle!
Unfortunately, the butterfly no longer looked beautiful and had a very swollen body with small and withered wings.
The man was happy that he had made the butterfly come out of the cocoon without any more struggles. He continued to watch the butterfly and was very eager to see it fly with its beautiful wings. He thought that at any moment, the butterfly might expand its wings, shrink the body and the wings would support the body. Unfortunately, neither happened. The butterfly just crawled around with withered wings and a huge body. It was never able to fly. And eventually, the butterfly died.
Although the man was just trying to help the butterfly, he did not know that only by going through struggles can the butterfly emerge to be beautiful with strong wings.
The continuous effort from the butterfly to come out of its cocoon would let the fluid stored in the body be converted into wings. Thus, the body would become lighter and smaller, and the wings would become beautiful and large.
If we don’t want to undergo any struggle, we won’t be able to fly!
As our struggles heal, we shine ever brighter!1”
And finally, I added the word “strength” to my drawing as a reminder that I must Never Give Up. In my case, it is my faith that I lean on to remain strong. It’s the Lord’s strength that protects me and watches over me. I depend on Him! Keep struggling, my friend! Your fullness of life and abundant joy depends on it!
“Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might!” Ephesians 6:10, NIV
1 From https://www.kidsworldfun.com/shortstories_butterflyandcocoon.php
-Never Alone
Never Give Up!