December 1, 2017November 20, 2020 by Genevieve Boast

METAMORPHOSIS

There comes a time when we have been given all the clues we need and we are faced with a choice. The mask of our identity has started to fray around the edges and we know that transformation is knocking at our door. We reach out and touch the stories that we wish we were living, yet they remain just beyond our reach. In order to grasp them, we need to let go of everything that stands in their way.

The stage of metamorphosis comes when we commit internally to doing everything we can to bring our true story to life in the world. We don’t have to know exactly what or where that story is: all that is required is a heartfelt ‘yes’ to its call. However, before we take our first steps on the road towards authenticity, we have to go through a process of letting go. We must allow old habits, ways of being and masks of personality to melt away so that the new skin of our real story can be revealed underneath.

To do this, we need to prepare ourselves for death. The cycle of death and rebirth is a core element of the mythologies of almost every culture across the world. Needless to say, this initiation is far from easy, especially when we have very few elders, teachers and wise people available to us as guides. What are we being initiated into? We are given the opportunity to remember and embody who we really are. To reconnect ourselves back into life and restore the original spark and unique gifts that we came into this life bearing. It is perhaps the most challenging stage of the entire narrative life cycle. I certainly have found it so, and continue to, every time I am invited to step willingly into its arms. Yet the creative process of the metamorphosis stage is also one of the most exciting – if we want to evolve beyond our adolescent skin, then we can’t escape its breakdown, which ultimately results in a breakthrough.

Extract from Tough Bliss: Restorying Life