On the Wings of a Butterfly

Andrea Avari Stevens, Ph.D.

It is has been said that the movement of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can contribute to the formation of a hurricane in another part of the world. How can this be? How can what I do where I live affect thousands of others in another part of the planet?

If this is so, then my responsibility for my actions increases exponentially. It means what I do an as an individual affects others whether I realize it or not. What if I wake up one day and understand that I do have a connection to all my sisters and brothers on this planet, that we are all One. That what I choose to think and the actions I take affect not only me and those around me, but the world….people and places with faces I have never seen.

If this possibility exists, then I need to choose my thoughts and actions carefully. I am sending gifts to unknown recipients. I want those gifts to be a source of help to all. I want the beating of my butterfly wings to bring thoughts of love, not fear, laughter not frowns, acceptance not intolerance, connection not division.

Sometimes there is a war inside of me. It grows less as I grow spiritually. But occasionally it still wages its violence and takes its toll on me. It is my challenge to release fear and know that the energy of love and compassion is all there truly is. I make up the fear; it doesn’t really exist. The battlefield of my mind connects with my body and sometimes I feel tired and drained. And then love finds an opening and sneaks onto the field turning the minefields into flowers and stopping the bullets in their path, dissolving them into light.

I will transform this conflict within me step by step by recognizing that love is my choice, not fear. And as I do this, my light will shine more brightly and my heart will emanate a beautiful energy to all around. As the energy spreads and joins with others of like mind on the planet, the inner peace quiets the outer conflict, washing over it in waves until the fear looks at the gun in its hand and says, no more.

It doesn’t matter the problem, I want to send a vibration of my wings over the airwaves to work with others to brighten the light for us all. I want my choices to foster multiplication not division. I want my butterfly wings to embrace with love, not beat the flames of fear.

My butterfly wings are your butterfly wings. There is no you or I. We are all the same wing, each beating in synchronicity, resonating with love and kindness because that is the essence of who we truly are. That is our choice in every moment. The beautiful butterfly is each and every one of us. When we move our wings as one, we can create a hurricane of light, filled with healing and compassion for us all.

Copyright 2008 Andrea Avari.

Andrea Avari Stevens, Ph.D. is an intuitive spiritual coach working with clients to balance and integrate wellness, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. She is the author of A Hit of Heaven: a soul’s journey through illusion. Andrea and her husband are writing their new book, Letters from 2 Lunatics in Love: creating soulful relationships which will be available at the end of the year.

Website: www.andreaavari.com Email: andrea@andreaavari.com.

Everyone as Self

By Andrea Avari Stevens, Ph.D. 

I have had a lesson lately.  It wasn’t an easy one.   I knew that I drew this lesson to me to learn something.  I didn’t really want to learn the lesson but the lesson just kept on knocking on my door.  I picture this door as the door of my soul.  My soul wanted me to grow.  Sometimes I just don’t want to grow but my experiences tell me it is true that whatever I resist does persist. 

The short story is that I felt someone had not been honest with me about a business contract.  It wasn’t just a feeling; it was a verifiable fact.  It was difficult for me to understand why I would draw this to me. Hey, I am a good person.  I am doing my work.  Why should I have to experience this trauma?  Yes, there are times when the ‘victim mentality’ in me just wants to have the stage all to herself. 

On the other hand, I have been studying the concept of compassion more deeply than ever before.  I was struck by Karen Armstrong’s work with compassion.  Karen won the TED $100k prize this year and was able to have one wish granted.  Her wish was to work with others to create a Code of Compassion, just two pages of how compassion can really work in the world.  Armstrong said that compassion means having an understanding with another person…..really understanding, getting your ego out of the way.  It means treating other people as you would want to be treated.  

So I thought I would use that awareness to work with this breach of contract.  I have parts of me that are fragments that are separated from the wholeness that is my soul.  For example, when I think I am not good enough in some situation and I stay in that judgment of myself, the part of me that is judged is fragmented off in pain and separation.  If I want to be free of pain and move into wholeness, it is my responsibility to nurture that wounded part of me with compassion and hold it continuously as a mother holds a fearful child.  It is similar to shining the light into the darkness.  The area is illuminated and the energy is transformed.  

So my wounded parts become integrated one after another, slowly over time.  If I look at the billions of people on this planet I realize that each is a reflection of some facet of me.  The ones that flow seamlessly through my life represent the qualities which I have that are healed.  The people who come jumping up and down into my life with qualities that upset me are simply doing the same thing: reflecting qualities I have in my own personality.  

That is the challenging part; I don’t really like to admit that.  But if I am to grow in my life emotionally, mentally, and spiritually (and if I don’t, it can affect my physical life as well), I can open up to embrace that part of me without judgment.  Using only compassion, I embrace that part with love…with no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  When I embrace that quality in me, I can embrace that same quality in others and vice versa.  

That means I see everyone as self.  Everyone is a mirror of me.  I want to treat them as I would want to be treated….with respect for being a human being with a spark of the Divine within them…...just like me. 

When I am ready to talk or write to that person who breached the contract, I have done my work of holding the emotion in compassion and just sitting with it as the energy transforms.  Sometimes journaling or talking with friends can help prepare me for that holding and nurturing of my emotion.  

And then my understanding can be real.  Is there a way that I can put myself in that person’s shoes and imagine to any degree how they came to choose the action that they did?  If I sit or walk with that idea for a while, most likely a feeling of some understanding washes over me.  And then I ask myself…..how do I sometimes breach contracts, large and small?  Perhaps they are contracts with myself that I rationalize and then move in a different direction contrary to my goals.  When was the last time that I broke a contract, didn’t tell the exact truth, stretched my imagination to justify my actions?  Hmmmmmmmmmm.  

Can I hold that part of me in compassion and forgive it and love it with the fullness of my heart?  And then can I treat the other person with that same feeling.  It doesn’t mean that I do not stand up for myself.  It doesn’t mean that I just forget it.  It also doesn’t mean that I simmer in resentment for a while.  It means that I treat them as I do myself in a healing mode, with respect and understanding while I state my needs and actions to be taken.  It means that how I treat you is how I treat myself because we are one and the same. 

As I heal myself so I create more light in the world.  As each person chooses to heal, each human being illuminates radiating light on those around them.    Eventually, we are all illuminating loving energy, treating ourselves and each other as we all want to be treated.  And all it takes is courage to be compassionate. That means I have to take the time to not react from my head but to allow the space for my heart to expand and link with my mind.   Old times would say that I used to speak with a biting tongue.  I learned it well from a great teacher in my childhood.  But I am not that biting tongue in my inner Self.  I can choose another way.  Now I can write my letter in a way that expresses my limits in a way that is respectful of the other person’s boundaries as well.  And the stress that would normally weigh me down……..evaporates. 

Copyright 2009.  www.andreaavari.com