“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to
achieve that beauty.” — Maya Angelou
We may not change physical form as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, but we can certainly undergo deep, internal transformation that takes in our identity, values and worldview. As liminals this is something we can appreciate, a fundamental shift in outlook (maybe even in life choices) that is a conscious process of growth, self-realisation, and evolving into a more complete version of oneself. To do this we may have to shed our old selves to embrace new perspectives, maybe even align some inner truth with external actions.
Wanting to seek improvement is a good thing, maybe not in the sense of Gregor Samsa’s (de)evolution into an insect (“monstrous vermin”) in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, but into a better idea of ourselves. Transformation is a process, and it is in celebration of this that Fun Lovin Liminals was created. A quote by the American writer Trina Paulus also reflects this
desire: “How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
Change is never easy, especially when you are in a rut and you can’t see the path ahead. Such difficulty can require a level of dissolution – to progress, sometimes the previous you must be given up, a reminder that feeling you’re “falling apart” might be the first step in an upgrade.
But the change you seek doesn’t have to be life-altering, it can involve small tweaks to how you behave to yourself and to others. In our creative expression, whether it is prose, poetry, art, music or photography, this issue brings a range of insight into how this can be achieved.
Submissions open 1 February 2026.