Project Purple Butterfly 2025

A symbol of what fibromyalgia has taken from us

Fibromyalgia is not just pain. It’s an illness that quietly steals pieces of our lives - both big and small. Activities that once felt natural become impossible. Walking in nature, playing with our kids, dancing, working, creating, traveling - all of these can turn into distant dreams.

Project Purple Butterfly is a visual symbol of this loss. Its goal is to show the public how much fibromyalgia takes from our lives, while reminding the world that even though we are often invisible, we still have a place in it.

How to Participate

Participation is simple and designed so that as many people with fibromyalgia as possible can join.

Create a Butterfly

Cut out or craft a butterfly using paper, craft foam, fabric, plastic, or anything you have at home. Purple is preferred, as it's the symbolic color of fibromyalgia, but don’t worry if you don’t have purple - what matters is what the butterfly represents.

Place It Somewhere You Miss and Take a Photo

Put the butterfly in a place that fibromyalgia has taken away from you. For example: On a bicycle, if you can no longer ride. On your craft table, if you can’t create anymore. On a bench in the park, where you used to go. At the pool, theater, forest, or café - things that used to be part of your life

Even everyday moments count - like changing the bedsheets, cooking dinner, or having coffee with a friend after work. These moments may seem small to others, but for us, they can feel impossible.

If you can’t physically go to the location, place the butterfly on a symbolic item at home - like a flowerpot if you miss nature.

Friends and Family Can Help Too

If your loved ones go on an outing you can't join, ask them to place a butterfly for you and take a photo.

You can take selfies or standalone photos of the butterfly - whatever you prefer.

Share Your Photos

You can choose to stay anonymous or include your first name and city. Send your photos to our email fibromyalgia.slovensko@gmail.com or info@fibromyalgia-slovensko.eu. We will upload them to our social media and website for you.

Or post them yourself using hashtags: #ProjectPurpleButterly #PurpleButterly #ProjectButterly or #FialovyMotyl #ProjetFialovyMotyl #ProjektMotyl. You can also upload them in the comments under our posts about the project.

Send as many photos as you want, even from outside Slovakia. You can send them gradually - as you go places, as your health allows, or as you remember more things you miss.

Why This Project Matters

The Purple Butterfly Project is more than just a symbol of loss. It’s a way to show the reality of life with fibromyalgia to the media and the public.

Each photo is a small reminder of what fibromyalgia has taken - and how challenging and limiting this illness really is.
Not just for us, but also for our loved ones.

On May 12, International Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, we will publish a special post gathering all the submitted photos.
We want to visually and simply show how many experiences and moments have disappeared from our lives.

Join the symbolic Purple Butterfly Project even if you don’t live with fibromyalgia!

if you don’t live with fibromyalgia but you care about someone who does - show your support. Take a photo of a white or purple butterfly as a sign of solidarity. Let us know that you think of us.

Let’s remind the world that we miss life - and life misses us.

How to easily make butterflies at home: