The Transformational Journey

Where Are You in Your Transformational Journey?

We are all on a transformational journey. We’re born, live and die. The beginning, middle and the end, or so we’re taught. The transformational journey is more than birth to death. Consider the journey as all that happens before the beginning and extending well after the end. When you hear the saying it’s all in the journey not arriving at the destination because there is no true destination. Instead, you’re offered a transformational journey without end.

I use the concept of The Universal Story to teach plot and, because the Universal Story represents the energetic path to change and transformation, guide people to discover where they are on their own transformational journey.

Identify where you are on your transformational journey.
Assess how far you’ve come, where you are now and determine where you’re headed.

How Far You Have to Go

You can draw the Universal Story template and plot your way to your goals, be they physical, mental, emotional goals. You start with the weight you are, determine your ideal weight and plot the steps and time to get there. You start on the day inspiration for job-related project strikes and plot the steps and time frame to arrive at the point of completion. You start with the feelings you’re imprisoned by now and work your way toward more uplifting emotions. We juggle lots of goals at the same time — inner and outer goals, short and long-term goals — all of which are secondary goals on the transformational journey and simply outer ways to arrive at your primary goal.

At the core of each of those secondary goals is your primary goal. To transform spiritually from where you are now to who you’re meant to become is at the heart of your own personal transformational journey.

There is no better way to illustrate the transformational journey than to use the Monarch butterfly caterpillars that have graced my life over the past two weeks — and we’ve named Frick and Frack.

When we first spotted Frick and Frack, they were beautiful with white, yellow and black bands. They’ve never lost their beauty but as we left the beginning of the journey with them, we did indeed enter an exotic world where caterpillars appear to have mouths at both ends of their bodies. They molt and eat their own skin. Poop out of one mouth and eat the poop with the other mouth.

They’ve devoured every leaf in their path with the ability to stretch their bodies nearly twice as long as they appear when crawling and munching, as they reach for a new stalk, fresh branch, young leaves. In their relatively short lives, the two have nearly eaten their way through an entire milkweed plant.

This morning I found Frack attached by his back legs to the underlip of the plastic pot of the milkweed plant we’d had to scramble to find to feed their voracious appetites.

Frack’s outer appearance remains caterpillar-like though now, rather than long and sleek, Frack is puffier as he hangs like an upside down candy cane. Though Frick and Frack have spent a lot of time together eating off the same leaves, Frick seems oblivious to Frack’s absence as Frick continues eating…

And now, we wait. Frack, motionless and still, appears to have arrived at the end, death, dead, his life cycle over.