When the season switches from wet to dry and the prevalent offshore winds return to Guanacaste, Costa Rica, a whimsical and iridescent creature returns to the airways. If you haven’t noticed them yet, this is a good reminder that sometimes you just need to look up.
There are days between December and sometimes as late as into March where droves of dragonflies dance on the hot air currents. At times, there may be hundreds of them gracefully gliding in all directions as the sunlight glistens on their cellophane-thin transparent wings. I once even heard that if you see dragonflies, it means that wind is offshore or about to go offshore.
But what’s more, is that while these real-life fairies are in and of themselves entrancing to watch, they actually carry a lot of symbolism, mysticism, and wisdom that we can all learn from or at least appreciate.
WHAT DO DRAGONFLIES SYMBOLIZE?
Crossing continents, culture and language barriers, and time, dragonflies have long been associated with change, transformation, and growth. In Guanacaste, they arrive as the season changes from wet to dry and disappear as the dry season begins to transition into wet again. They love the early mornings as the night vanishes into day and the late afternoons as the day starts to morph into night.
The luckiest of dragonflies live for about a year and start and live most of their life below the surface in freshwater. Their short life cycle is a reminder that life is short and that each stage of our lives should be lived to the fullest and in the present. Dragonflies also symbolize transformation and our ability to grow and change throughout our lives. To a dragonfly, change and transformation are welcomed and what they thrive on.
Dragonflies also symbolize adaptability, lightness, self-realization, poise, grace, and strength.
WHAT CAN YOU TAKE AWAY FROM DRAGONFLY SEASON?
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “change is the only constant.” Like the dragonflies that carelessly swirl in the Costa Rican summer wind, we must welcome change as it comes into our lives. And we must remember that we are not stagnant creatures. We are adaptable beings that have the power to transform into whoever we want to be and go wherever we let the wind blow us.
Nature has a way of revealing great truths and insights to those who look and listen. So, don’t forget to look for the dancing dragonflies before the season changes again. And, be open to the lessons you might learn by looking up.
