Stuck or Free

Stuck or Free?

Stuck

Last night on my sunset beach walk, I saw her. At first I was concerned for her. A monarch butterfly, wings worn and weathered, resting in the sugar-white sand. One wing was torn, the edges dusted with salt. She looked like she had seen some things. (Honestly? Same, girl.)

Beauty

Stuck …. it carries such a negative connotation with it. It doesn’t have to be negative. Maybe she wasn’t stuck at all. Maybe she chose that place, that time, that spot to depart this world. There was something heartbreakingly beautiful about her.
Not perfect. Not polished. But real.

She had clearly made a journey. Maybe the winds carried her farther than she meant to go. Maybe she got tired somewhere along the way. Maybe she was simply at the end of her flight.

But she made it to the shore.

And not just any shore. This one—the place where the waves whisper and the sky turns gold and the air tastes like you’ve been given another chance.

I stood there thinking about how we all go through seasons where we feel like that butterfly—wings bent, tired, a little salty around the edges.
And yet… we still find our way to beauty.

We still show up.
We still land somewhere meaningful.
We still matter.

A few steps later, I looked up and saw the sky doing this — the second photo.
A golden sunrise stretching across the water like a promise:

“You made it.
Even here, especially here, there is light.”

It reminded me of something I’ve said to so many students (and sometimes need to say to myself):

Even the moments that look like endings can be beginnings in disguise.

The butterfly wasn’t a symbol of defeat.
She was a reminder of resilience.

The sunrise wasn’t just a sunset
It was a reset.

So today is a nod to every person who has ever felt worn out, stretched thin, or unsure if they can make it one more mile:

You are not done.
There is still beauty ahead.
And even if your wings look a little frayed, they are still wings.

Keep going.
The light is waiting.

I’m proud of you.