"Perhaps the butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness and become something beautiful." -MeShell, Amethsyt client
The butterfly, with its powerful natural transformation from a lowly caterpillar into a thing of beauty, is often used as a symbol of recovery. The process of metamorphosis which produces healing, growth, renewal, strength, resilience, freedom and beauty is aptly compared to the difficult journey of recovery. The struggles, determination and shedding of one’s past in order to create a new healthy life is the primary goal of all woman in recovery. It is about shedding the paralysis of trauma and embracing the new found freedom of a life to become whomever they wish.
The women of Amethyst, an Alvis recovery program, enthusiastically embraced the notion of creating a Recovery Month Banner using the symbolism of the butterfly. They delighted in using the community of other women sitting around a table applying vibrant and beautiful colors to their own cutout butterflies. Each also wrote their name and sobriety date on a butterfly. Together they produced a special and beautiful image of their recovery taking flight under the guidance and professionalism of Amethyst’s treatment philosophy.
They could see themselves flying away to reach a new destiny, one of beauty and success.
That is why when the piece is completed, butterflies will completely cover the purple background and spill over onto the walls. Recovery has no boundaries for what one can achieve in sobriety!
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty,” Maya Angelou appropriately wrote.
"Once I was a caterpillar...Now I am a butterfly...I have been transformed, been reborn...Amethyst is the reason why!" -Amethyst client