Chrysalizing

“Most highly creative people can remember ‘a moment, an encounter, a book that they read, a performance they attended, that spoke to them and led them to say, “This is the real me, this is what I would like to do, to devote my life to…”‘ says psychologist Howard Gardner.

That moment of memorable, dramatic contact with an activity of fascination is known as a ‘crystallizing experience.'”

Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, Wired to Create

Nothing crystallized for me
Instead, I chrysalized
Crawling into a pupating state
Of home
And children
And family

While my peers were
Making their mark
On the world
Through education
And career
And the upward mobility
Of recognition,
I was making soup
On the woodstove
And washing yet another load
Of laundry.

I folded shirts
Matched socks
Baked cookies
And bemoaned my untidy house

I read books
Upon books
Upon books
Aloud to my children

One by one
They left home
For higher education

One by one
(all eight of them)
Graduated
Found jobs
In their desired field(s)
Emerging from their chrysalides
To live adult lives

Meanwhile I
Am sorting
Through boxes of papers
They had written:
Poetry
Stories
Notes
Academic research

And I cry
Not for sadness
But for joy

They are beautiful people

Now it’s my turn
To crawl out from this protective shell

What will I be?