"What parts of yourself are you willing to get rid of?" - Bozoma St John
As I tuned into this year's Forbes 2024 Power Women's Summit, I was struck by how brave each panelist was in their unique ways. So many nuggets of wisdom were shared, but none stopped me as much as Bozoma St John's (former CMO of Netflix) speech about what it takes to become a butterfly.
What Happens Inside the Cocoon?
That was the crux of her message. We all know that the caterpillar enters the cocoon and emerges as a butterfly, but do we know what happens inside the cocoon and what the metamorphosis is really like?
Before hearing Bozoma speak of it, I'd never even thought to ask the question, "What happens in the cocoon?" Well, to make it out of the cocoon, the caterpillar must digest itself. That's not a pretty analogy. It's not sleeping beauty laying there peacefully in dreamland, only to blissfully awaken to find she has wings. No, it's deep, dark, and surprisingly unpleasant work that is happening. There is little rest during a life-changing transformation. Change is active, not passive.
I think it's important to note that it's not a frantic kind of doing that's required to break through the cocoon. The caterpillar is not running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off. Instead, it's a complex yet purposeful undoing. A dissolving of the thing that will no longer serve its greater purpose, even if that thing is the old self.
So, I pose Bozoma's question to you as much as to myself. What parts of yourself are you willing to get rid of? You as you are, in this moment, up until this moment. There is no running away from ourselves, no simple "shedding of our skin" like snakes do. No. To become something new entirely, to become the butterfly, we must transmute ourselves – that is, to change from the inside out. And that, my friends, takes thoughtful, intuitive, divine, and often painful work...
The prize? Wings, of course. Your very own pair of wings. I'd say that's worth a try.
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