I finally got my book back! The Very Hungry Caterpillar was a favorite of mine as a kid, and it’s a good thing I wrote my name ALL OVER this one...my aunt found it in an old box and returned it to me a few weeks ago at Thanksgiving.

Thank you, 4 year old self, for claiming what was rightfully yours. Future Lena thanks you.

And…I felt like a very hungry caterpillar at our Thanksgiving gathering for sure, in both my stomach and in my soul. The holidays have a way of doing this, and the timing was impeccable and well received.

I couldn’t help but notice when reading through this book again, the metaphor of our journey so deeply contained within.

Eating our way ravenously through life, searching for fullness and satisfaction.

If you remember, the tiny caterpillar is born on a bright and sunny day and starts to look for food. He begins by eating some healthy fruits, but that’s not enough, so he starts devouring other things like cake, ice cream, and lollipops…until he finally gets a stomachache. (Poor caterpillar!)

In the end, he eats a nice big juicy green leaf from a tree, and finally he isn’t hungry anymore. He builds a cocoon, and transforms into a beautiful butterfly.

The end.

Except, it’s not the end. It’s simply the end of this book. This chapter in his life. The butterfly phase is yet to come. And with this I begin to wonder, and as this year comes to a close and the next is yet to unfold…

What things have you “eaten,” both literally and metaphorically, in your quest for fullness that no longer serve?

What thoughts, beliefs, patterns, ways of being, have been a part of your quest yet no longer support the whole?

What’s the big juicy green leaf that will create the fullness you’ve been looking for? And if you see it, are you ready to eat it up and transform into this next chapter of your own book and story?

The leaf, by the way, was growing on a tree…it was alive…it was bright…and it was there just waiting to be eaten.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s even easier than we think.

With gratitude,

Lena