Instagram Inspiration :: The Wonder of the Dragonfly

 

This little guy decided to hang out at our place for the night!

 

 

Last night my daughter and I were walking out our front door when we saw a rather large insect flying around our porch light.  When we realized it was a dragonfly, I was a bit surprised as I have never seen one flying around at nighttime.  So of course, this sent us on a quest to find out more about dragonflies.  I love when nature inspires us to learn more about the creatures that share our planet with us and we spent the evening on Google learning about them!  After much discussion we decided to call him (or her) Daphne.  Though my daughter wanted to call him Gingivitis the Dragonfly.  Funny kid. They are  quite fascinating and I wanted to share with you some of interesting fun facts we found out about them.

 

The Wonder of the Dragonfly:

It was so interesting to learn that Dragonflies have inhabited our planet for almost 300 million years!  There is a wide and varied perception amongst various civilizations about the dragonfly and what they symbolize.  In the Japanese culture they symbolize summer and autumn and the Samurai use it as a symbol of power, agility and Victory. In China, people associate the dragonfly with prosperity, harmony and as a good luck charm. Amongst Native Americans, it is a sign of happiness, speed and purity. Purity because the dragonfly eats from the wind itself. (Source: Dragonfly-site.com).

The dragonfly’s ability to move in all six directions exude a sense of power and poise and comes only with age and maturity. The dragonfly can move at an amazing 45 miles an hour. They can  hover like a helicopter, fly backwards like a hummingbird, fly straight up, down and move left to right quite easily. They do all this while  flapping its wings at a mere 30 times a minute while mosquitoes and houseflies need to flap their wings 600 and 1000 times a minute respectively.

 

 

Symbolisms of the Dragonfly:

The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life. The traditional association of Dragonflies with water also gives rise to this meaning to this amazing insect. The Dragonfly’s scurrying flight across water represents an act of going beyond what’s on the surface and looking into the deeper implications and aspects of life.

 

According to the website Dragonfly-site.com, the dragonfly is considered to be an agent of change and presumably symbolic of a sense of self realization. Self realization from how the dragonfly uses its power to control its movements and so elegantly. And change and evolution is all about the dragonfly’s ability to fly and the way it can be comfortable on water, land as well as the air.

 

But of all the symbolisms that dragonflies represent, my favorite was learning that they represent living in the NOW and IN THE MOMENT.  Isn’t that what being a dandelion parent means and what we try to achieve in our daily life?  To try to just enjoy the day-to day-moments that make up our lives.  The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis. This ability lets you live your life without regrets like the great dragonfly. (Source: Dragonfly-site.com).

 

 

It was a nice surprise to see him still hanging out this morning when we walked out onto our front porch.

 

Have you been thinking about making a change in your life lately?

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