On a lazy Saturday morning, as I ate breakfast in bed reading the news of the week, I noticed my cat was staring intensely outside my window. I glanced outside, assuming it would be another bird, and discovered something else instead. Outside of my window, perched on a bush, was a blue dragonfly. It was sitting there, enjoying the sunshine, and stayed long enough for me to take a picture.
Dragonflies are seen as symbols of change. They are also supposed to help you change your perspective and make self-realizations. I don't know how much to buy into all of that, but looking at the pictures I took, it did make me think of a few things. First of all, it reminded me of the simplicity of nature. The dragonflies and the birds and the cats don't care who will be the next president. Hillary, Donald, Gary, Jill, it doesn't matter to them. My cat just wants food, attention, and to be let out onto the porch every five minutes. She also doesn't mind having a warm bed to curl up on.
The birds just want food and for me to restrain my cat from attacking them every five minutes.
The dragonfly just wants to live out its short lifespan and bring a little bit of beauty into the world. They don't hide their motives. They don't make the world unnecessarily complicated. It is simple for them. They don't worry about politics because they are a part of nature, they know everything will work itself out, and they don't have to be a part of it.
The human world isn't so simple. I am not a dragonfly. I do worry about politics, particularly the upcoming election. I do worry about the terrorist attacks and school shootings. I worry about my future and what I need to do to accomplish my goals. I worry about my grades in school, about my ability to do my job, about money and friends and relationships and everything in between.
Sometimes when we worry, our fear turns to anger. We lash out at the "other side" that we see as the people who caused the problem. We blame those people for what they did to our country. What we fail to realize is that this isn't our purpose in the world. Our purpose aligns more closely to that of the dragonflies, or the birds, or my cat. We are to be beautiful symbols to one another. Even if your symbol isn't the same as someone else's, all symbols are valid, all are beautiful. We are to protect one another from harm, keeping all of the hungry cats of the world from consuming anyone. We are to love one another, to ensure no one is hungry and make sure everyone has a warm bed to sleep on at night.
Our lives are longer than those of dragonflies, so we need to work to make them more meaningful and less hateful. We need to become dragonflies.
