Come forth into the light of things; let Nature be your teacher.

~ William Wordsworth

Believe one who knows: you will find something greater in woods than in books.

Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.

~ Saint Bernard de Clairvaux

Friday, July 26, 2019

Spider Wisdom



Photo by Hans on pixabay
Spider has often shown up in my life as a reminder to weave words and worlds, to express myself in the way I love most. But recently Spider has taught me something else.

Ants love to come into my house. It may be because it’s hot and dry outside, and when my husband waters, it’s too wet. I’m not sure exactly why the ants come marching in. And I’m not a fan. They don’t listen to reason. They end up dead when they come in. I don’t like to kill them, but where there are a few, hundreds can follow if one bit of grease or drop of food isn’t noticed and cleaned up.

Where there are ants, there are spiders. It is mainly daddy long-legs that bless my home. They move awkwardly on their spindly legs unless they’re scurrying, which I rarely see them do. Mostly I see them wait patiently in a corner on their web. They wait for an ant to get caught in their weavings or when one walks by, they grab it. I thank them for catching ants. It’s why I leave them alone in their corners. There are probably a dozen in this large house right now.

With spiders there is no chase involved. They simply do the work of weaving a web and waiting. Mind you, they seem to choose areas frequented by what they want to catch. There does seem to be some planning involved. But once in the perfect place, there is only biding time to be done.

Being patient works. Within a day or two I see the empty husks of ants lying at the base of webs. The spiders are successful in their ability to feed themselves and they don’t expend a lot of energy doing it.

Life is about planning and taking action, but it also calls for more patience than many are willing to have.

This society is about making things happen. I get caught up in that sometimes. I just want to get that essay done and published. I want to make this coaching thing work. I want to take action and be done. But it doesn’t work that way.

We set our intentions. We weave our web of thought and belief. And we wait for inspiration to come our way. I’ve learned to write even as I wait. The writing is a kind of weaving that catches inspiration. But I’m not writing to get it done. I’m open to possibility and I let the words flow. Patience is needed for the first part of the writing process. Later we build and make.

Whatever intention we set, we must be patient. Patience is akin to being open. Patience is the gateway through which possibility enters. When we lose patience, we slam the door on possibility. It’s like a daddy long-legs spider trying to catch an ant by chasing it down. The spider can’t reach out and catch an ant while it’s running. It can’t jump on the ant. It would have to stop and the ant will outrun it. But by waiting patiently, the spider catches dozens of ants.

So, here I wait. Inspiration already hit yesterday when Spider’s wisdom came to me. Now I’m ready to catch more ideas. I trust they will come to me. I simply ask the right questions, set my intentions and wait.

What are you waiting for? Think about what you want. Ask “what if” questions. Ask to know what is rising up within. Believe in possibilities and then wait. The idea, the next step will come to you. But first, have patience. Keep the door open and the muse will fly in.