Dear friend,
Lately, I’ve noticed that so many people around me, myself included, are going through major life transitions. Some are leaving jobs that looked perfect on paper but felt empty. Others are having relationship breakthroughs. Some face unexpected loss, while others finally chase dreams they’d kept buried.
Maybe you’re in one of these spaces too. Maybe you’ve lost a job, questioned a relationship, or left something “safe” that was slowly suffocating you. Maybe you took a leap of faith and the road ahead is still unclear.
I want you to know: you are not alone in this darkness.
The Cocoon Isn’t a Prison
Right now you might feel fragile: sleepless at 3 AM, gripped by doubt, wondering if you have what it takes.
But pause. You’ve already done the hardest part.
You chose growth over comfort, truth over safety, authenticity over pretense. That choice alone shows that strength inside you.
The cocoon isn’t there to trap you; it’s holding you while your transformation unfolds. What feels like stagnation is actually deep reconstruction, invisible from the outside.
Like roots growing unseen before a tree rises, your struggle is laying the foundation for who you’re becoming. Each painful question, each fall and rise, is building something in you. This pain has direction.
For maybe the first time, you have space and time to ask: Who am I really? Who do I want to become? What do I actually want?
You’re learning to distinguish between desires born from fear—needing security, approval, control—and desires that come from love, from alignment with your true self.
It hurts to see that many things you thought you wanted were actually what others expected you to choose. But this hurt is guiding you back to yourself.
Instead of asking “What do I want and how will it make me feel better,” you start asking “Who am I, and what truly belongs to me?”
This isn’t one revelation—it’s cycles of questioning, rebuilding, doubting, then finding new ground. Each time, you strip away what doesn’t belong, getting closer to your essential self.
You’re learning the most valuable skill of all: looking inward for answers instead of outward for approval.
The Change Is Already Happening
Even when you can’t feel it, transformation is taking root.
Like the caterpillar dissolving in darkness, wings are forming quietly inside you. Every time you face reality instead of running away, choose honesty over self-deception, hope over despair, you’re becoming who you were always meant to be.
Your courage isn’t in being fearless. It’s in moving forward afraid.
Your strength isn’t in never breaking. It’s in standing back up, again and again.
When doubts wake you at night, remember: your questions are proof of growth. Only those who care deeply about their lives wrestle with them this honestly.
You Won’t Stay Here Forever
I can’t tell you when this phase will end, but I promise it will. Like driving at night, you only need to see the next stretch of road to reach your destination.
Trust the process.
When you finally emerge, you’ll carry treasures you didn’t have before: deep self-knowledge, inner strength, and a wholeness that needs no outside validation.
And when your wings spread at last, you’ll see the cocoon wasn’t darkness at all—
it was the beginning of light.
May you trust light even in the dark,
May your pain bloom into something beautiful,
May you become who you’ve always been meant to be.
Chen