Sarala Life — Life in Chapters: Careers, Canines, Cabernet & Courage

Daily writing prompt

Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?

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A former friend once nicknamed me “Bee” — short for beetle.

At the time, I never questioned it too deeply. Nicknames often stick without explanation, and friendships have a way of creating their own language. But over time I found myself wondering about it.

Did she really see me?

Or did she simply project the version of me she needed to see?

Ironically, the beetle carries a very different meaning in many spiritual traditions than the one people might casually imagine. In ancient symbolism—particularly the scarab—the beetle represents transformation, renewal, persistence, and evolution. A creature that pushes forward, carrying its world with it, constantly reshaping what came before.

When I later learned that, I laughed.

Because if there is one thing that has defined my life, it is the constant pursuit of growth and evolution. Professionally, personally, spiritually—I am always asking the question: What is the lesson here? Even when the lesson arrives wrapped in discomfort, loss, or change.

So perhaps the nickname was more accurate than either of us realized.

Or perhaps it reveals something else entirely about relationships: sometimes people give us names not because they truly understand us, but because they are trying to place us neatly inside their own story.

The truth is, the people who know us best are rarely the ones who define us.

We define ourselves through the work we are willing to do — the healing, the learning, the shedding of old skins, the courage to keep moving forward even when the path feels uncertain.

If I am a beetle, then I’ll take the full symbolism of it.

A small creature perhaps.

But one that keeps pushing forward, carrying transformation with it wherever it goes.