On Writing The Butterfly In You by Sheri Mandell
The Butterfly in You began in a place I didn’t have language for at the time. From the outside, my life looked full…family, work, connection but internally, I felt a quiet, persistent loneliness that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t about being alone. It was about feeling disconnected from myself.
I didn’t set out to write a book. I started writing because I was trying to understand what I was feeling. What began as journaling slowly became a process of self-inquiry. Tarot entered that process not as something mystical or predictive, but as a mirror. It gave me a way to see my patterns more clearly, the ways I was moving through my life, the cycles I was repeating, and the parts of myself I had set aside without realizing it. At the same time, I found myself using AI in a similar way, asking questions and reflecting in a way that helped me see my thoughts from a different perspective, not for answers, but for awareness.
That realization changed everything. Once we can see our patterns, we can begin to shift them.
The book grew from that experience. It blends memoir with reflection, using the structure of tarot’s Major Arcana as a framework to explore emotional patterns and the different phases of personal growth. At its core, it’s about awareness, about slowing down enough to recognize what’s actually happening beneath the surface of our lives.
What I’ve come to believe is that loneliness is one of the quiet epidemics of our time. We are more connected than ever, yet so many people feel disconnected in ways they can’t explain. The Butterfly in You is not about fixing that feeling, it’s about understanding it. Because when we begin to understand ourselves more honestly, we begin to reconnect—not just with others, but with who we truly are.
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Sheri Mandell is a mindfulness teacher, author, and advocate for emotional reconnection in an increasingly disconnected world. She believes loneliness is one of the most misunderstood struggles of modern life, and that the patterns keeping us stuck can begin to shift the moment we learn to see them clearly. When people can see their patterns, they can change their lives.
Find out more about Sheri on her website: https://www.sherimandellofficial.com/
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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