Recently, I heard a quote that has resonated with me and I’ve found myself drawn back to its wisdom every day.
Peggy Northrup, co-founder of Shebooks, gave a talk and asked everyone to “follow the butterflies.â€
What butterflies?
My first thought was to Follow Beauty… Follow What Turns You On… Get Captivated.
What Peggy was really talking about are those butterflies in our stomachs: the ones that show up when we are excited, nervous and usually facing the unknown. They tend to make us self-conscious, a little sweaty and ask questions like:
- Why did I want to tell a story at this Open Mic Night?
- Why would that gallery call me back?
- Who am I to think I can land this job?
- Why am I writing this… is it even original?
- Can I really do this? Insert your personal “thisâ€â€¦
A lot of people talk about “living outside your comfort zone†and I’m sure you’ve seen this image:
But when the butterflies start to flutter and flap their wings – IT FEELS LIKE THE OUTSIDE OF THE COMFORT ZONE JUST MOVED RIGHT IN BEHND OUR BELLY BUTTON!
There are some circumstances where we just deal with the butterflies because there are people waiting on us. They are the moments that we pass through as we shift into action.  Once we open up to speak… the butterflies quit flapping their wings so hard and settle down.
Usually on the other side of the flutter is a huge sense of relief and accomplishment.
Yet there are times when the butterflies seem to stop us in our tracks. Have you ever felt like the butterflies are bringing you into sweltering nausea?  We feel overwhelmed and we will do anything to stop all the activity, self-questioning and crave a return to feeling “normalâ€.
Do you know what’s strange? This happens more frequently when we are by ourselves.
We use our energy to still the butterflies instead of moving into action…
* It happens we want to sit down to write the next chapter of our book and we tell ourselves we’ll do it after the dishes are done.
* It’s when we stare at our business leads and instead of calling them we drift off to surf the internet.
This one is usually followed up a few hours later by worrying where we’re going to get new clients.
* It is when we need to flush out a song, but take a picture of our guitar to post onto instagram instead.
* It is when we need to take the scary next step in our lives… the one that means the most…
Why do we let the butterflies affect us differently when we are alone?
From what I notice continually from friends, clients and, of course, myself is that when we are passionate about something or it carries a deep meaning for us… every move we make seems laden with the worry that we’ll “do it wrong  either in our own eyes or a judgement from someone else.
You may not be conscious of this belief, but if you’ve ever procrastinated – that’s usually the deeper message, the deeper limit, the deeper story that locks you into place.
What if the butterflies can’t stop moving around because they are showing us exactly the direction we should be going? They’re like our inner navigation system telling us when we are getting closer to what we want.
What if they are saying “Go, Go, Go!†and not “No, no, no!â€â€¦.?
This past Friday I was on a group call with Dr. Sue Morter and she talked about the butterflies! Her take on them is that it’s our Solar Plexus (our energy center relating to Action and Will) waking up and that we should do everything possible to go in the direction of the flutter.
In our common language feeling butterflies in our stomach refers most of the time to how we feel when we are attracted to someone. While we feel nervous and not sure the proper string of words might come out of our mouths when we are near them…. We know we want to be near them.
We trust these butterflies are telling us something More is around the corner in romantic attraction.
Is it possible to move into trust when we feel the butterflies and it has nothing to do with romance?
I believe so. My butterflies have shown me “the next step” countless times… better projects, deeper relationships, speaking out so mediocrity doesn’t reign and deep personal healing in my body and soul.
Where are your butterflies trying to lead you? What are they telling you to do, to start, to play with?
Listen in…. Follow your Butterflies and find out…
With deep belief in your wildest dreams,
Kim
