“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”

William Shakespeare

Part-Time Chameleon

One thing we all know to a certain degree is shapeshifting. Animals do it, so do we. It’s an effective but often painful survival response when we have to read the room and figure out if we should be the kind people-pleaser or the “cold” one. We do it to please parents, bosses, friends, lovers, and pretty much everyone we have in our vicinity. All be liked, loved, wanted, taken care of, paid, and respected. Surviving in the modern world turns each of us into chameleons.

Voluntary Change

Shapeshifting is great when it’s not mandatory but voluntary. When it’s not demanded and required but desired. It’s a beautiful thing to change when we know who we want or don’t want to become. Yet it’s not easy to accept a nonlinear change for ourselves; we often obsess over the “best form” we can achieve and put strict guidelines that dictate our change.

One animal handles change much smoothly than we do: Sea slugs, our great and very slow-living ancestors who dwell in the dark oceans.

Fitting In Boxes

They keep on changing throughout their lives; they don’t have a “true form” that they belong to. They can camouflage and "match" their surroundings to switch between environments. They can expand, contract, or flatten their soft bodies. Changing their apparent shape allows them to fit into every corner of the ocean, hiding from predators or mimicking surroundings.

In other words, they can fit into all “boxes”.

You Are What You Eat

Many sea slugs derive their vibrant colors from the prey they consume, such as sponges, anemones, or corals. The pigments from their food can be stored in their tissues, giving them hues that match their environment or prey. For example, a nudibranch feeding on bright yellow sponges might turn yellow.

This not only helps them blend into their surroundings but also serves as a warning to predators. Like “don’t come near me; I have just eaten your friend”

Turning Tables

They make good thieves of themselves too. Some sea slugs, like aeolid nudibranchs, feed on stinging creatures like hydroids or jellyfish. Instead of digesting the stingers (cnidocytes), they store them in specialized parts of their bodies (called cerata). These stolen stingers then become part of the sea slug's defense system, allowing it to sting predators. A great example of turning the tables.

Like the Ocean’s series? Watch this.

They bring this theft to another level with many feeding on toxic prey, such as poisonous sponges or algae, and sequestering the toxins in their own tissues. This makes the nudibranchs themselves toxic or unpalatable to predators.

Their bright, warning colors (aposematism) signal this toxicity, derived entirely from their diet. Without access to these toxic food sources, they may lose this defense.

Allow It

To us, they may look weird and alien, but they tell a story about the value of being your true self through constant transformation. They have versions of themselves for different environments, different predators, and different “ecological dreams”. So do we. We have to allow our transformation to go in any direction it desires. Even if the transformation seems ugly and bizarre, especially then. Allow yourselves like they do.