Cup the Caterpillar, whom I do not feel is self destructive.

 They are interesting things, caterpillars. They eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and grow and grow and grow and grow and grow and eat and grow and then…..they stop. They come into the quiet part of their life.  

I’m not waxing poetic. That’s what the instruction booklet says.  

My daughter named our “callipitter”, Cup. He has doubled in size, and then again, since we got him this weekend. On Monday night we had finished watching HUGE  and my Girl Gang was nomming on brownie sundaes, Cup still sat in his little caterpillar tent on the table where my daughter had left him after showing him off to the girls during dinner. While the girls discussed the fudgey goodness that was our brownies and everything that went down during the show, I noticed Cup the Caterpillar had stopped eating. Literally for the first time in days. He just sat there, fat and happy.  

Fat and happy. After eating and eating and eating and doing nothing but eating for days, he is happy and he stopped. I don’t know how he knows to stop. I have no idea about the mental capacities of caterpillars. I’m guessing he doesn’t read fashion magazines or attend a 12 step program or feel societal pressure over the fact he has quadrupled in size in six days. I think Cup just knows somehow that he has had enough to keep him full for the quiet part of his life.  

The part of his life when he’ll use this fullness, this knowing he is content, to become quiet and still inside a blanket of silk, and then….and then a magic I don’t undestand, but Cup will become a butterfly. A monarch, and he’ll spend the winter in Mexico.  But for now he is just fat and happy. Perhaps one could venture to say, Cup is Living HUGE.  

Thank goodness there aren’t self destructive caterpillars. Could you imagine? Caterpillars that eat themselves to death, exploding into a caterpillar goo because they couldn’t call it quits with the milkweed. Or caterpillars who refuse to partake in the oppotunity given to them, so instead of transforming into a graceful and soaring butterfly, they remain what basically is a glorified worm.  Or what about caterpillars who refuse to eat at all, and never experience the fatness and happiness that comes with feeling full of life. Caterpillars that give up the chance to be a butterfly. Wouldn’t that just be heartbreak?  

Of course, we’re not really talking about caterpillars anymore, are we? Take a look at Girl Gang:
  

There’s no official name for the fear of butterflies. I looked it up. Wouldn’t that be silly? Afraid of butterflies.  

I’m glad Cup doesn’t steal from others to look cool in front of his friends. Or chug vodka out of water bottles and vomit in the woods. Or sabotage workouts or lie to friends or not defend his brother during a moment of humiliation and pain. I’m extremely relieved Cup doesn’t text, or answer to booty calls in the back seat of a car with someone else’s spouse. It would upset me to learn that Cup hates himself, especially over self destructive decision he chose to follow out. It seems we lucked out with a very sensible caterpillar, accepting the journey that is ahead of him.

Perhaps the only thing more ridiculous than being afraid of butterflies is being afraid to become one.

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Jess Weiner’s Discussion Guide for Week 8, click here  

For information on our caterpillar Cup, or where you can get your own non self destructive monarch caterpillar, visit www.caterpillarcaregiver.com

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An update on Cup the Caterpillar Butterfly

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