Butterfly

The suggestion that "don't judge a book by its cover" is not necessarily sage. Many a time a book's title draws readers in and gives us the first impression. 

The great thing about an intriguing book title is that it leaves us clue like Hansel's bread crumbs for Gretel. Recently, I had been unable to unlock the meaning of a book's title after reading more than four hundreds pages. That is a memoir from Evanna Lynch, best known for her casting as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series. Evanna is courageous enough to tell her bumpy and dark journey with eating disorder in her publication The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting. As she acknowledges, it's very hard, and at times impossible, to uncouple anorexia from self-hate.

The thing is, I didn't quite understand what Evanna's life has to do with butterfly. So, I kept reading. One chapter after another, there is no mention of the winged insect. Not even a moth.

I thought for the thousandth time how Evanna's body could have looked like a butterfly. 

And then, in the final chapter, I saw the symbolic meaning of her transformation. That life cycle is a legacy of awe-inspiring transformation from a teeny caterpillar out of a neat cluster of shiny, dandelion-yellow eggs. A magical transformation from an egg the size of a pinhead to crusty little cocoon, followed by a dancing butterfly with stunning beauty. 

How had I not noticed the similarity to the recovery of Evanna Lynch from her darkness in wrestling with an eating disorder?