The Cocoon Effect: Transforming Through Hardship

“You can be shattered and you can put yourself back together piece by piece until one day you wake up… And no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot fit into your old life anymore. You are like a snake trying to fit into old, dead skin, or a butterfly trying to crawl back into the cocoon.” ~ Glennon Doyle, Love Warrior

Glennon Doyle’s words hit me with a wave of recognition. In “Love Warrior”, Doyle recounts her transformational journey of healing the mind, body, and spirit, as she reflects back on her history of bulimia, addiction, and familial strife. Though the final chapter ends on a hopeful note of healing, Doyle ultimately comes to this conclusion: Sometimes in the process of healing, the transformation is so monumental that you can no longer fit into your old life anymore. Sometimes the final step of growth is kicking off your old shoes, and finding the courage to start anew. While the specifics of Doyle’s journey were different than mine — Trade childhood body dysmorphia for childhood abuse, the bulimia for self-harm, the hard drugs for alcohol— The overarching themes in our lives were remarkably similar.