Lessons From The Web (Spider, Man)

Two nights ago I was walking around back to bring the dogs in when I almost walked right into an enormous spider web. It was a magnificent web, strung delicately and perfectly from the branches of a tall bush to the ground. It was probably seven or eight feet tall, tall enough so that the center of the Web, the bullseye, was practically at my own eye level, putting me face to face with the spectacular web's proprietor.

Spider, man!

The spider was right there in the middle, chomping on some smaller insect that had fallen prey to the sticky strands, as intended.  I didn't have my phone to snap a picture, and I didn't think I'd get a good shot anyway given the darkness.  I made a mental note to try and catch a picture of it when I put the dogs out again in the morning.

But in the morning the web was gone.

All that work, the perfect construction, form and function, just for an evening's feast.  As slick and symmetrical as it appeared, the web could not withstand the wind, rain and other vagaries of the night.  Oh well.  So much for getting a picture of the web.

Rinse, repeat.

Then last night, once again I went to retrieve the dogs and lo and behold, there was the web again.  Not quite as big this time, but almost in the exact same place, and once again with my friendly neighborhood spider right smack in the middle.  This time I got the shot.

And then I saw the lesson in the weaving of the webs...

Every day the spider has to create to survive.  He has to do the work to spin his web, and do it well.  Do it as perfectly has he can.  Even though that work may only last the day, it is the most important work he can spend his time doing.  Again, and again, and again.  He's not discouraged when the wind (or a person) ruins his work because he knows he is fully capable of doing it again, and maybe even more perfectly the next time.  He makes every web he creates count.  He has to.

Setting aside any aspirations to become Peter Parker, I'd like to approach my own daily creations more like the spider, putting forth my best each day, for that day...

What do you think?

Perspective, And The Attack of the Giant Spider

OMG, a giant spider is attacking my neighborhood!!!

That's what it looks like, right?  A humongous spider is terrorizing the neighborhood by climbing along the telephone wires, on its way to wreak havoc and destruction. Of course, that is what the perspective of the picture makes it look like.  In fact, the merely average sized spider in question is hanging out in his tangled web just a few inches in front of my phone's camera, and a great distance from the telephone wires above us.

Things Are Rarely As Bad As They Seem

It is easy to draw the worst conclusion and overreact to things if you don't keep them in proper perspective.  The choice is ours to make.  We can be frightened by the things we believe to be giant attacking spiders, or we can recognize that, when put in perspective, the things we fear are not nearly as daunting as we let them become.  The "spiders" that scare us are actually small and relatively harmless.  Put in perspective, we realize it is not that hard, if you're paying attention, to avoid them and not get caught up in a web of anxiety.  Keeping things in perspective helps us avoid unnecessary angst and stress.  

Life's too short to spend it worrying about giant attacking spiders, don't you think?