I may not have the closest relationship with my dance teacher but her mother has taught me more than just dance steps, she’s taught me to take a step back and look at all the little beauties in life. I first met Mrs. Stebel in the garden in her backyard, my friends and I were admiring the glass butterfly sculptures she had scattered throughout the flowers. They were beautiful and majestic and captured the fragileness of a real butterfly perfectly. My friend Emma was hiding cowardly behind the screen door, trembling from the thought of being surrounded by butterflies.

Mrs. Stebel appeared from behind the brick wall and laughed at Emma, who was shaking uncontrollably. She asked how someone could be afraid of something so small and delicate, but Emma’s answer was not good enough to convince her. It took my two friends, my dance teacher, her mother and me to just get Emma outside of the house. Mrs. Stebel brought our gazes to a rather small butterfly, this one happened to be real. She held out her finger and the butterfly climbed aboard. We all stared intently at the butterfly examining all its bright colors and exquisite details on its wings. Mrs. Stebel told us all to look carefully and see how that beautiful creature wasn’t a threat but a symbol of ourselves.

“No two butterflies are the same” said Mrs. Stebel. Each and everyone is different just like every person in this world. Everyone in this world is unique and strong. This delicate butterfly is powerful enough to pollinate hundreds of flowers just like how every person is fragile but we are strong enough to power through the day and get our jobs done. Mrs. Stebel continued to ask us about the little details on the butterflies wings and we answered acknowledging the beauty of such a small insect. Throughout the time we were examining the small butterfly on her finger we failed to notice the multiple other butterflies that had gathered around us in the garden, landing gently on different flowers.

“Do you notice what just happened?” Mrs. Stebel asked us, we stared back in confusion. “While you were all concentrated on one task you missed the changes in the world around you.” Since that day forth I’ve learned to take a break and look at the big picture. I can’t put all of my effort into one task or else I will miss events in the world around me. Step back, take a deep breath and enjoy the little beauties in life.