08/27/2026
“I thought I was just teaching butterflies…” 🦋 I was reminded that sometimes we're doing something meaningful without even realizing it. 🦋
I was teaching two of my beautiful students how to paint butterflies when a woman approached us and said:
“Butterflies are my favorite.”
So naturally I asked her, “Would you like one?”
I painted a butterfly on her arm while we talked.
She shared with me that her family participates in community events and that they had experienced the unimaginable loss of a loved one to gun violence.
Before she left, she thanked me and even gave me a $5 tip.
I thought, Qué lindo momento.
And I went right back to teaching.
A little girl came by. She asked for a butterfly too. We took a picture, everybody smiled, and I thought that was the end of it.
But hours later, when I was already home, my phone rang from a number I didn't recognize.
“Hi. I'm the butterfly lady.”
🦋
She told me that she had my information from her friend, the other woman I had painted.
Then she told me something that stopped me.
Her friend also lost her son to gun violence.
She organizes community events during the summer where they release butterflies, and she wanted to connect with me about collaborating at future events.
I teared up.
Because suddenly I wasn't thinking about face paint anymore.
I was thinking about my own son.
I was thinking about these mothers.
I was thinking about how desperately I wish families didn't have to experience this kind of loss.
And then she said something I wasn't expecting.
She told me that I was a blessing and that I was doing good in people's lives, even when I didn't realize it.
That stayed with me.
Because sometimes I tell myself:
“I'm just painting.”
But maybe we're never just doing anything when we're doing it with love.
A butterfly takes me only a few minutes to paint.
But today, a butterfly opened a conversation.
A conversation created a connection.
And that connection reminded me why I want to use what I have to bring something good into people's lives.
You never know when something you quietly do in the shadows will come back to you through the light. 🦋
Today, it came back to me through butterflies.
And I pray for a world where fewer mothers have to grieve their children, where our communities choose love over violence, and where we never underestimate the power of doing one small, beautiful thing for another person.
Sometimes I paint butterflies.
Today, the butterflies painted something in me. 🦋❤️ Thank you Natalie & to all my teachers who came before me.
