The Dragonfly Lifestyle: Living Underwater

Dragonflies spend most of their lives as nymphs; larvae that live underneath the water while patiently waiting for their exodus onto land and eventual flight. But during that time, they aren’t without change – in fact, some species molt up to fifteen times during this underwater period. Throughout it all, they take in the nutrients their environment provides, ultimately fueling their metamorphosis.

We, as humans, aren’t all that different. Most models of transition or transformation start with the moment of separation, the moment an event causes us to separate from the life or way of thinking we’ve been living. But I believe it begins long before that, and we simply don’t recognize the early signs – when we are the ones living underwater, yet to awaken.

Our awareness can be obscured by the muck of generational trauma, abuse, addiction, codependency, financial insecurity, systemic oppression, and our own negative self-talk. We may be alive, but we aren’t really free to emotionally engage with our world, think clearly, or exercise our power of choice as conscious creators. And the thing is – we may not know we’re living this way, especially if we were born into these situations. In our culture, we’ve come to believe life is hard, a struggle, and that suffering is a normal, expected part of life. 

This is not true. Spiritual teachings since the beginning of time suggest that pain (physical or emotional) is inevitable but suffering is optional. But rather than feel the feelings that arise when we experience pain, we stuff them, have a stiff upper lip, and move on. 

One result of this is that those feelings are stored in our physical tissue and, over time, crystallize as dis-ease and eventually disease. Is stuffing our emotions the only cause? Not necessarily, but it certainly contributes. My point is: our bodies and emotions show us every day when we are out of alignment with our Soul’s intention for this human life. When you are living underwater, your whole being knows. And eventually, that Knowing is too loud to ignore.

After that first big awakening, we learn to notice that some aspect of life is out of alignment. The more aware of misalignment we become, the more empowered we are to identify the misalignment and take action to move into alignment. Now, note that I didn’t say “back into alignment”. Yes, we can go back to square one, but that is not alignment with our Soul’s highest knowing – it’s going back to what’s familiar. Moving into that alignment is a forward motion, typically into a way of being that is new for us. Hence, it includes moving through transition or a transformational process. 

So, how can we see through what is obscured, and begin to expand that new consciousness?

The key developmental tasks during the early stages of living underwater include uncovering, identifying, and healing habits and familial and cultural conditioning that cause suffering and interfere with clear communication and self-connection. This is a personal experience and it could take some experimentation and a really good therapist and/or intuitive coach (learn more about how I can support you here!). The skills you learn, especially during the early stages of awakening, will serve you throughout your life. 

In fact, you will continue refining those skills for years to come; moving from the wide-view to more subtle levels of the themes and patterns that are uniquely yours. It’s important to remember that we come back to this stage over and over, to heal new facets that emerge. While this may sound daunting, it’s important to trust the intuition that helped you awaken to living underwater in the first place – you will move towards land again. And each time, you will have new tools to integrate into your transformation.

But, more on that in the next blog, where we’ll cover stage two: the moment of separation.