Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly...

One of my favourite rhymes as a child was Insy Winsy Spider (excuse the spelling,) and how it overcame being washed down the spout and drenched, and climbed right back up there again. I think it was the spider’s tenacity that really made an impression on me.

Today when I was opening the gates, I saw the most beautiful intricate spider web draped across our spreading fern. The web was hidden subtly in the branches, but around the entire fern were stretched long threads waiting to catch some unwary insect that might land upon them. The spider itself was not much bigger than my little finger nail, yet this amazing creature had industriously worked and planned its attack in order to maximize its success and prey quantity. Once trapped in the web the hapless insects struggle and thrash only ensnaring themselves further as the spider approaches and lunch is served!!

The parallels between nature and life can sometimes be quite striking, and no more so than at my present place of employment. Upon reflection (in the bath, remember Archimedes got inspiration there!) I realised that I was like that insect caught in the web of many threads. Drawn to it because of its beauty but once upon it ensnared by it and reduced to struggling to exist, having the life sucked out of me by the omnipotent spider. In the end I’m left a dried out, desiccated carcass with no life left in me. I battle daily trying to avoid the lure of the gossamer shimmering strands and land up getting “ensnared” it aint easy but I am still flying!!

This got me thinking – a dangerous thing believe me!! It isn’t only in work situations that we tend to get ensnared – love and relationships are so tricky and the tangled webs we weave are sometimes breathtaking in their complexity. We don’t seem to just accept people for who they are and just let them be. Through our own insecurities we impose our fears and phobias into our relationships and the results can sometimes be deadly. We constantly weave our fears into complex webs and the results can devastate many lives for years to come.

Spiders webs are things of beauty to be admired for their construction and ingenuity but get too close and you’ll get caught and land up as the main course on the menu!!