I believe midlife lasts longer than the twenty years between 40 and 60, which was part of the reason I wrote “Learning to Love Midlife.” I don’t believe there’s a healthy roadmap to help us navigate this treacherous period when adult life satisfaction tends to be at its lowest point.
If our 40s and 50s are our “Chrysalis Era,” then we can learn something about becoming “imaginal” based on the caterpillar-to-butterfly journey. Your midlife may feel like the suspended death of the caterpillar, but it’s the imaginal cells within the miraculous insect that contain the code to become a butterfly. The caterpillar’s existing cells attack the Imaginal cells for being foreign, different, and unfamiliar. But the Imaginal cells are unaffected, as if floating just out of reach, full of imagination with what’s to come. Gathering in clusters, they begin their movement toward transformation.
So, how might you become imaginal in your life? How might you break out of your habitual life and let your imagination flourish at a time when you’re feeling a little out of control? The process is challenging, especially for us who are control addicts. But, it’s in that surrendering to the unfolding, that loosening of the grip that Brené Brown calls the “midlife unraveling,” that the magical metamorphosis is meant to happen.
Part of the reason I created MEA is that I know that this process isn’t easy. We were given guidance and support during adolescence, but we’re bereft of rituals and roadmaps in middlescence. That’s why midlife wisdom schools are essential—a place where one can go through this liminal process in the comfort of being with others who are also going through it. So, be prepared to unleash your imagination in Baja or Santa Fe with us. We’re here to be your emerging butterfly whisperer.
-Chip