Meaning Behind Mothlight

I’ve always been mesmerized by metamorphosis. Isn’t it crazy that a caterpillar may think it will always be a caterpillar — slowly crawling around on the ground with the fear of getting stepped on? Then one day it hangs upside, spins itself a silky cocoon and stays wrapped up in there for days or even weeks while it sheds its old body and forms a new one. WHAT?! They turn into a moth and are able to fly, seeing the world like they’ve never seen it before — living a life they probably didn’t even know was possible. I think the human life can look a lot like this for some. Moths inspire me to always focus on growing, changing for the better, transforming my life into what I dream it to be. A beautiful reminder to never stay stagnant for too long. Think of the times where you’ve changed the most; it was probably really hard, right? You may have had to go through a really difficult time to make it out on the other side as a better version of yourself. Maybe you look back on the times before and remember feeling a lot like a caterpillar: sluggish, living in fear, only having the capacity to explore what is nearby (mentally or physically). Maybe you had to isolate yourself in your cocoon for a bit while you dealt with your feelings and worked on yourself. While your wings were drying, you felt vulnerable. But then all of a sudden, you can fucking FLY! I feel as if it is possible to go through this cycle many times as a human. Maybe right now you’re feeling more like a caterpillar. Maybe you just learned to fly and you’re celebrating. There’s no right or wrong place to be. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

I’m also so inspired by moths ability to find light. This encourages me to fight to find positivity (light), even when it doesn’t come so naturally to do so. How many times have you seen a ton of moths flying around or even into a porch lamp? The theory is that moths can use the moon or stars to orientate, and that a moth adjusts its flying track to keep the light source at a constant angle to the eye. However, while rays from a celestial source would all be seen as parallel, those from a lamp radiate all around. So the moth is left to constantly turn inwards to keep itself at a constant angle to the light, ending up in a spiralling path which makes it eventually collide with the lamp. Artificial lighting has definitely thrown a wrench into the moth’s evolutionary programming. Try thinking of the artificial light as the stuff we numb ourselves with — things that seem good on the surface but they really just cover up our feelings: over exercising, over working ourselves, becoming obsessive about eating healthy, too many “helpful” happy hours with friends, etc. Now think of the moon and stars as the light and positivity within ourselves. The place we can access anytime. The habits we’ve put into place to maintain our mental health. Now, it’s okay to flutter around the porch lamp every now and then to distract ourselves. Stay there for as long as you need, but with the promise of always coming back to yourself.

find the light

look within