Why Butterflies?
Most commonly the butterfly is seen as a symbol of hope and faith for something better. They are seen for their natural beauty and uniqueness. While relating the butterfly to the Alzheimer’s project with the cards is that each card and each quote and answer in the card is different. Each person in the world views Alzheimer’s differently and has different experiences with Alzheimer’s whether they are a bystander, a patient, a caregiver, friends, family, or if you know nothing about it.
We also chose the butterfly because of the butterfly effect, and the idea that one person’s actions can change the world. We felt for this project that just one person sharing their experiences and knowledge about Alzheimer’s could affect someone else or help them through the process either if they are diagnosed or someone close to them is diagnosed. For someone going through that, hearing the advise and encouragement of other people can make a big difference.
Butterflies also symbolize rebirth, and being free, and metamorphosis. To this project we felt that this involved using past situations and experiences and even learning from other people’s experiences to realize the best of the situation and evolve to something better.
Butterflies also have a tendency to flock together in gardens (a group of butterflies is called a rabble or swarm). This gives a sense of community and people sticking together to get through the hard times in life. This relates to this project because people are sharing their stories and advise to help other people that are going through the same experiences.
