Anything but “Winging it”
One of the amazing things about Brickell is the elements of nature sprinkled throughout our bustling urban neighborhood in Greater Downtown Miami. In a stroll past Dade Heritage Trust and Museum, the 1905 original office of Miami’s first physician, one can often see butterflies fluttering on the ground’s native plants. The new Underline Brickell’s Backyard also liberally includes butterfly gardens in it’s design. Butterfly-friendly plants, such as milkweed, attract butterflies to feed and are a safe place to lay eggs. These gardens are a source of pride for our community as they are essential to the survival of butterflies which is now in jeopardy.
One of the most recognizable butterflies we can find is the monarch. With it’s flashy orange and black coloring, the monarch is easy to spot. If you wear brightly colored clothing, one just might stop and rest right on your shoulder. The story of the monarch butterfly may offer some inspiration for us all as we reflect on this past one year since the onslaught of the Coronavirus. The monarch migrates up to 3,000 miles and inherently knows which way it must go. It completely changes—a metamorphosis— while in seclusion in the chrysalis. It must push and strengthen it’s wings to open the chrysalis itself before it can fly. If a well-meaning person tries to make it’s release easy by opening it too early, the butterfly will not survive. It needs to gain strength by pushing a way out.
Like the monarch emerging dramatically changed from it’s isolation, we have been forever changed by our life since Covid. We exercised new muscles to work and learn at home. We exercised patience while we waited. We waited to hug our friends and family. We waited for toilet paper and yeast and to catch elevators with limits in number of riders allowed. We waited to eat in restaurants and go to a gym. We continue to exercise our “tolerance muscles” as we make decisions for the health of ourselves and our families and respect that others get to make their own decisions. Hopefully, we have been reminded to pause and watch flowers bloom and butterflies spread their wings. As we continue to emerge from our own isolation to find a new normal, our hope is that our Brickell community emerges stronger than ever.