A Butterfly Year

I just saw a wonderful short movie called 'The Butterfly Circus'.

It was about a circus full of wonderful people who didn't start out that way. The ringleader seemed to have a talent for collecting such people and then turning them into fantastic people and performers instead of broken wrecks.

This movie made me think about whether I'd been more of a gawker than a ringleader, like the one in the movie. Have I simply reveled in the differences, perhaps snickering behind my hand, or have I spent the balance of my life inspiring people to reach for their potential and be excellent? Most of the time, I'm afraid it was the former.

I wondered what the Phantom of the Opera would have turned out to be if he'd only met 'The Ringleader'--if he'd only had someone to lift him from the grubby, hellacious prison of his childhood to a place of respect and understanding. Surely his magnificent voice and teaching talent would have been respected well over his unfortunate looks.

So I have decided to try and make this a 'Butterfly Year'. I'm going to talk to my offspring about this concept and see if we can't help to lift not only other people, but each other too. Instead of tearing each other down for slights real or imagined, let's look for the butterfly potential and understand while we are in the cocoon stage.

Be EXCELLENT, my little caterpillars!