Becoming a frog

My husband, the biologist, tells me there is a current debate in the science community about when a frog actually becomes a frog. Of course, the little amphibian starts out as a tadpole. She then grows legs and endures an awkward adolescence hopping around with her tail still hanging on. But soon her tail falls off and she appears to be a fully matured adult frog. Is she, though? You see, she looks like a frog, and she hops and croaks like a frog, but scientists tell us that her micro-biome – all of the little organisms that live inside of her – are still from her childhood.

You see, she looks like a frog, and she hops and croaks like a frog, but scientists tell us that her micro-biome – all of the little organisms that live inside of her – are still from her childhood.

No one sees it on the outside, but the insides of this little frog are still changing. She’s losing everything she doesn’t need anymore, getting rid of excesses, and finding the new things that she needs for her adult life. Scientists can’t determine the exact moment when this process is complete. They can only test and find that the transformation has already happened, discovering that she has found her new balance. Now she is – inside and out – a mature frog.

My husband, the biologist, tells me this truth and I smile to myself thinking…I am this frog still becoming a frog. We are these frogs, at first awkwardly hopping around with our tails still hanging on, then looking for balance on our insides. We look like ourselves, and we are still becoming ourselves.