Flutter like a butterfly

The sun had just come out that afternoon. It had been raining for days so it was a pleasant change of weather to have a bit of sunshine. It did not last for long though. I went out and sat on the white bench at the small space at the side of our house, a place that we call Kayla’s park. It was a mess when we came home from Jakarta last year and slowly it had transformed to be a comfortable place to spend time relaxing with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning or in the afternoon.

 ” We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever” – Carl Sagan

Then, I noticed there were many butterflies fluttering around the Zinnia flowers. They hopped onto the flowers and spent some time before flying around again. I couldn’t remember the last time I watched the butterflies up close.

Carl Sagan reflected that we live our life like a butterfly who only live for a day but thinks it will be forever. Depending on size, on average butterflies can live up to two to four weeks but we get Carl Sagan’s point that life is indeed short and fragile, and we tend to forget about this fact.

The realisation is even starker now that we live in the era of pandemics. We spend most of our life trying to survive, some even go beyond survival, accumulating wealth, craving for power and position. We forget that all are temporary and will be gone in a second when our life is taken away or when nature decides to change its course. Just like now, I feel as if the world hangs in the balance. Time keeps on running but the world slows down, we’re floating, uncertain of where life will take us. Humanity has gone through numerous pandemics in the past, I know that we will triumph over this pandemic as well. I can’t help but feel it’s a strange world to live in now. I have to learn to accept not to take things for granted.