Metamorphosis of a Butterfly

I’ve always been planning my great escape.

From the churches I was taken to every other weekend...
From the violence that laid heavy in my home...
From myself, my environment, my reality.

But even in the middle of all that
something in me always knew:
There was more to life than what I had known.

As a little girl, I’d drive past graveyards and feel this deep knowing…

That life doesn’t just end.
That souls don’t just disappear.

That there is more—so much more—beyond this one life.

There were glimmers that carried me.

Moments of dissociation that strangely kept me present.

Like going to the movies and pretending I was the main character.

Locking myself in my room to act out scenes from America’s Next Top Model.

Making music videos in the basement with my brothers.

These were my soul’s early explorations.
Tiny rebellions. Quiet hopes.

I believed that once I escaped once I grew up the pain would all fly away.

But as I grew older, the glimmers faded.
I became more disconnected.
More doubtful.

It felt stupid to believe I could be anything more.
Stupid to think I could be an actress. Or a model. Or even the main character of my own life.

Then 2020 happened.
And my soul finally woke up.
The shame, the doubt, the stories I had inherited—none of it was mine.

Like a caterpillar, I slowly emerged.
Grew wings.
For a long time, I couldn’t fly.
But now… I’m ready.

Maybe not to be a model,
but to share myself in a way that honors the little girl inside me.

To create.
To teach.
To help others feel seen
like all movie stars should be doing with their influence.

Because what I always knew deep down is true:

It’s safe to dream big.

There is something greater, lighter, more powerful guiding us all.

And we don’t have to run away to find freedom.

I’m not planning my great escape anymore.

I’m planning my stay.

Right here. In this body.
On this Earth.
Letting something divine move through me.

XO.

Dev