Growth is goopy

I love this quote from Resilient Management:

I used to think that when a caterpillar wraps itself up in a cocoon, it takes a little nap as it sprouts wings, and then emerges as a beautiful butterfly.

It turns out, the process is way more gruesome than that: inside that cocoon, the caterpillar reverts to a primordial state, digesting itself into a kind of soup. (I’m sorry for the mental image!) Eventually, it reforms itself into a wholly new state, and the butterfly pops out, glorious and winged.

I absolutely love this as a metaphor for growth.

Lara Hogan

I’ve thought about this a lot recently when work feels scary. Growth is goopy. The goop doesn’t mean I’m failing. It means I’m growing.