There once was a jellyfish

There once was a jellyfish who tried to fit into whatever shape anybody wanted it or needed it to be, you need a giraffe, okay, and the jellyfish would pour itself into the giraffe mold. You need a platypus, not a problem, and the jellyfish would pour itself into the platypus mold.  I won’t go on, you get the picture. Endlessly shape shifting from one mold to another, and never really taking the time to find its true shape.

One day the jellyfish tried to pour itself into yet another mold and got stuck. Something was different, it couldn’t pour itself into a different shape anymore. It got half way in and something got stuck – was that a back bone that was growing? The jellyfish squeezed itself out of that mold perplexed, it tried again. It still didn’t fit and the harder it struggled to fit the mold, the greater the confusion. The jellyfish drifted away, bewildered. She tried one last time to squeeze herselfinto a different mold, maybe this one would work. But no, the back bone had grown straighter and stronger. And what were these other things growing, graceful and strong – wings. The jellyfish hid now, it was obvious it was no longer a jellyfish, she had odd new parts, and didn’t fit anywhere anymore.

The jellyfish stayed hidden, uncomfortable and sad, she didn’t know if there would ever be a place for it again. She did have a very good friend though, a friend who didn’t seem to mind that tentacles still stuck out from its enormous pink bathrobe, that it had a straight spine, and wings that were sparsley feathered. The jellyfish found other friends who didn’t seem to mind the molting process process either, so she took courage and started to try out its wings. Mostly she fell, it had been easier to simply shape shift. But then sometimes there would be a lift under her wings and it felt pretty good to claim her own shape.

The new creature does not despise the jellyfish that once was, just the opposite, she learned that she needed to love that jellyfish and see the good things that she had done and forgive all the mistakes she had made. The new creature learned that failing is okay, it is the setting out in different directions that brings growth to wings, it is in the getting lost that she learned to navigate.

The new creature stretched out its new back bone, learning how to care for its new form. She stretched her wings as far as they could and gave them a great ruffle, she smoothed her feathers and tucked her head down for a rest. And feeling a different sort peace, she slept.