Have you noticed the sky looks different these days?

I have.

At first, I thought it was simply the time of year. Summer is beginning to change. The light looks a little different, the sun seems to be moving across the sky, and every once in a while, I catch a hint that another season is waiting somewhere in the distance.

Then I started wondering if it was really the sky that looked different.

Or was it me?

I recently wrote about coming out of my cocoon and discovering my wings. Suddenly I had become that butterfly I had only dreamed of.

I thought finding my wings meant I was finally ready to fly. What I didn’t realize was that I wouldn’t always feel like flying. Some days this butterfly wants to spread her wings, while other days she is perfectly comfortable at home.

There is a part of me that wants to get out more, meet people, have conversations, explore new places, and experience more of the world around me. Then there are days when staying home sounds absolutely wonderful.

Sometimes both can be true. I’m still learning what having these wings really means.

Life still has its obstacles.

As I write this, there are two surgeries ahead of me. By the time you read this, the first one will already be behind me.

Some people may think I’m a little nutty for having two surgeries only six weeks apart. They may have a point.

The first one needs to be done. My gallbladder and I have reached the point where we need to part ways before it decides to get really mad at me.

But the second surgery feels different.

Believe it or not, I actually want my hip replacement. That probably sounds like a strange thing to say.

It isn’t the surgery itself I want. It’s what I hope is waiting for me on the other side of it.

What I really want is to have my walks back. To see a path and wonder where it goes without first wondering how much my hip will hurt if I follow it.

There are places to explore and things I still want to experience. I can already imagine how wonderful it is going to feel to simply say yes without asking my hip for permission first.

I know why the sky looks different to me these days. I’m looking at it from a place I have never stood before.

Life hasn’t suddenly become free of obstacles just because I found my wings. But landing isn’t the same as going backward. Sometimes you land because you’re getting ready for where you want to fly next.

There are times I don’t notice how much has changed. Then I look around and realize I’m not standing in the same place anymore.

Does that happen to you?

The sky looks different these days.

Come to think of it, so does my life.

And so do I.

I don’t know exactly where these wings will take me next. But I know the butterfly in me is going to enjoy finding out.