Today, I be being . . .

I picked up the phrase "be being" from Magic Johnson, during his short-lived career as a TV color analyst for the National Basketball Association. "Karl Malone, he be being down at the other end of the court," Magic would say. It always brought to my mind visions of a kind of uncomplicated occupation of space by someone, a complete dismissal of any and all worry about what else needs to be done, a blessed remission from the curse of ambivalence.

My husband, Charlie, took this picture. He found this caterpillar munching away on some strawberry plants in one of our side gardens, busily eating its way toward becoming a Black Swallowtail Butterfly.

It's a challenge for my over-busy brain to look at this photograph and simply enjoy the sight of this snazzy black, white, and yellow tube of a creature chomping away on those bright green leaves. I begin immediately  to work out what it all could be made to mean in a larger sense. I  feel  driven to turn the caterpillar into a metaphor; to think about the cosmic implications of its eating those leaves!  I feel obligated to reinvent some tired caterpillar/strawberry plant metaphor that other over-busy brains have previously invented many, many times.

Then common sense rears its blessed, cheerful head and tells me to take a break, to give it a rest, to take a day off from taking everything so seriously. To forget about trying to turn that caterpillar into a metaphor and turn it into a role model, instead! To just, today, be being.

Hmmmm. What's for lunch?