When the Heart Waits

Okay, so this blip is a big cheat. After the exertions of yesterday I slept until 8:30pm, and still haven't actually got up. I just grabbed whatever I could reach from my bed to photograph.

Having said that, it is something that is meaningful to me. This is part of a gift bag I was given some months ago, full of little gifts to say 'thank you' for being best man at my friend's wedding. Yes - you did read that right - best man! All the gifts were very thoughtful, including the bag itself. Not only is it sparkly, turquoise and pink (all favourites of mine), it is covered in butterflies - probably my second obsession after ducks.

I've loved butterflies all of my life, but I've come to identify with them in particular since reading Sue Monk Kidd's book When the Heart Waits. In the midst of mid life crisis, Kidd reflects on periods of struggle/suffering as being times of transformation - the cocoon where the caterpillar becomes the butterfly, or the old self becomes the true self - the self that God intended us to be.

This is very much how I'm looking upon my period of illness at the moment. It's a time of 'active waiting' and transformation, and the butterfly is a symbol of great hope for me.

When the Heart Waits is a wonderful, comforting, understanding, and yet challenging spiritual book that I have shared with many friends facing their own struggles, and would recommend it to anyone facing difficult times or big questions.