Metamorphosis

The inexplicable grandeur of watching a new spring season bloom before your eyes is unlike anything else. There is something very fragile and fleeting about the moment a butterfly decides to land in front of you. The beautiful splendor of watching the insect floating effortlessly, pollen jettisoned into the air around it. You start to notice the ways in which you mirror it. Each move seemingly unconscious yet purposeful. Your life is lived in cycles, much like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, each new phase restoring you a brand new body. The truth is that life operates in cycles within you and without you, and those cycles transcend the mortal body. When you die, your body becomes an effigy for what is contained within. When you are gone, you return to the Earth to feed and support its' new life. You exist as a breath of fresh life in this world, individual, yet supporting the whole.

While that may feel like a heavy thought to place upon such a small insect, that was where my mind went in capturing its' beauty. I sat on the bank of the San Marcos river with my camera to my eye for hours for this picture, therefore, I had way too much time to think. While this butterfly is the star of this image, it is not just the butterfly that makes this image special to me. For the inhabitants of San Marcos, the river is a special place. People have inhabited the area around the river for around 10,000 or so years, it has seen humanity metamorphosize through countless stages of development. The butterfly, though striking and illustrious, is only one species in the menagerie of life that rely on this river. And yet, the butterfly is perhaps the most fitting symbol of what the San Marcos river represents.

In the dawn of humanity's relationship with the river, it was a sacred place for indigenous tribes native to south central Texas. The springs which feed the river are crucial to the creation story of the Coahuiltecan tribe. From one of these massive fissures, the Coahuiltecans were born and spiritually bound to Mother Nature. Still to this day, this site is sacred to native american tribes and is celebrated every year. Many archaelogical artifacts rest in the ground below the water, forever to be preserved and safe from human touch, yet telling us that the land around these waters have seen every phase of humanity.

From that point in history, the river has seen everything from Spanish settlment in 1755 to being a popular area for outside leisure activities in modern day. Being that the river also flows close to Texas State University, it also sees its' fair share of research groups and conservation efforts. The river is also home to some very unique specimens including the Texas blind salamander and Texas wild rice. The river is a special place through the lense of spirituality, science, and history, yet it is quietly tucked away in a small college town. For that reason, I feel very lucky to be able to bask in its' magnificance.

One simple image of a butterfly cannot capture my gratitude for where I live, but it more than represents something very special about humanity's relationship to the land in which it inhabits. The liminal moments in which life progresses through its' metamorphosis are quiet and careful, but with each new phase, something beautiful emerges. Life not only goes on, but builds on itself. The deep and rich beauty of each new life is multitudinous; far too large for one to percieve, but for too close to ignore. Each phase must come to an end, but from there, new life emerges and stretches its wings.