This beautiful chrysalis, hanging from a birdbath in one of our gardens, got me thinking about how magical it is when ideas grow and flourish.

We’re letting more and more wild milkweed grow in our yard to give the monarch butterflies a place to lay their eggs and to give the emerging caterpillars a place to eat. And we grow a ton of flowers for the butterflies to dine on in between. We’ve seen lots of butterflies and caterpillars over the past few months, but this is the first chrysalis I’ve spotted.

So how does this tie to organization?

Environment
If you want to thrive and get your best work done, you need to find or create an environment that sustains and protects your creativity. Are you in an environment that’s safe and nurturing for your creative ideas?

Food
Once creative eggs hatch, they need food to grow. How do you feed your creative ideas?

Time
Great ideas need time to evolve into a finished product. And that includes quiet time, sometimes away and apart from the world, dangling from a birdbath! How much dedicated time do you give your creativity? Can you create some chrysalis time in your busy schedule?

The genes in a caterpillar are the same as those in a butterfly. But, oh my, what a difference there is once the caterpillar stops her busy-ness and walls herself away to turn into what she always was at her core.

FYI: Monarchs are in serious decline. If everyone starts growing milkweed, we can help these beautiful butterflies thrive once again. I hope you’ll consider planting some next spring! Milkweeds can look a little messy, but isn’t the benefit of sharing your environment with these beauties worth it?

So I saw the chrysalis last week when I was eating breakfast in the back garden but forgot to take a picture. The next morning, I woke up early and wondered if the butterfly had emerged. When I went out to take the picture, the chrysalis was still intact – whew. Then I turned around and I spotted another gem in the yard. This little hummingbird comes to visit often and likes to sit on this fence. Action shots with him are impossible so I was glad to get a still!

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