🕸️ The Artist at My Door: What I Learned from a Spider’s Web

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

A simple morning ritual sparked a profound realization about perception, gratitude, and finding beauty in life's small annoyances. What began as frustration with a persistent spider web across my doorway evolved into a daily practice of mindful appreciation.

Walking you through my morning routine—making coffee, preparing my reading materials, and stepping outside to enjoy my garden—I share how clearing away the inevitable spider web shifted from being an unwelcome disruption to becoming an integrated part of my ritual. The transformation wasn't in the web itself, but in how I chose to see it.

Today's revelation came when I paused to truly observe the web glistening in the sunlight—its intricate geometry, perfect symmetry, and the remarkable persistence of its creator who rebuilds this masterpiece daily without complaint. This spider doesn't create art for my appreciation; it's simply following its nature. Yet in doing so, it offers an unintended gift to those willing to notice.

This reflection touches on our tendency to project human qualities onto nature (like in Charlotte's Web) when perhaps there's equal power in appreciating nature on its own terms. I've learned to acknowledge my instinctive fear of spiders while transforming it into awe for their remarkable abilities. Though I still clear the web each morning, I now do so with reverence rather than irritation—a practice that extends beyond spider webs to how we might approach all of life's persistent challenges.

What daily frustrations might you reframe as opportunities for wonder? Join me in finding unexpected teachers in ordinary moments and discovering how shifting perspective can transform our experience of the world around us. Remember to live in the moment and find gratitude in the smallest details of your day.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the show

🌟✨📚 **Buy 'The Places Where There Are Spaces: Cultivating A Life of Creative Possibilities'** 📚✨🌟
Dive into a world where spontaneity leads to creativity and discover personal essays that inspire with journal space to reflect. Click the link below to grab your copy today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected joys! 🌈👇
🔗 Purchase Your Copy Here: https://a.co/d/2UlsmYC

🌟 **Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins? Want to share your feedback or be considered as a guest on the show?**
🔗 Visit Wide Open Stages https://www.wideopenstages.com

📸 **Follow Lisa on Instagram:** @wideopenstages https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

💖 **SUPPORT THE SHOW:** [Buy Me a Coffee] https://www.buymeacoffee.com/STOPTIME

🎵 **STOPTIME Theme Music by Philip David Stern**
🔗 [Listen on Spotify]
https://open.spotify.com/artist/57A87Um5vok0uEtM8vWpKM?si=JOx7r1iVSbqAHezG4PjiPg

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey there, you know it's funny.
I've been thinking a lot aboutintentions and gratitude.
Obviously they come up a lot inthe work that I do.
And something occurred to methis morning as I kind of went
through my morning ritual, andI'm just going to share it with

(00:24):
you and see if it generates anyinsights for you.
I'm still verbal processinghere with you, which is kind of
how I roll, but I guess I'mmodeling, trusting the process.
Ultimately, obviously, I havethe control of whether or not I

(00:48):
share this, but I'm going to setthe intention to just go with
it as a kind of free flow, ifyou are willing.
So, as I said, every morning Igo out with my coffee and walk
around my garden with theintention of really taking it in

(01:11):
and living in gratitude, whichis not difficult to do at all
here where I am, and I truly amappreciative.
I can honor that, that I trulyam appreciative every day.
But here's the thing you know Imake my coffee mindfully and I,

(01:33):
you know, I foam the milk and Iheat it up in the microwave and
add my coffee, make my littlelatte, um, and you know, I get
my basket, which has a book init, and my glasses, so if I
decide to stay and read on thedock.
So it's all this little ritual,right?

(01:53):
The cats have been fed.
I haven't had breakfast yet.
Anyways, this is kind rememberedback to the idea that, you know
, I get all prepared and thenI'd I'd step out of my door and

(02:16):
I'd have to walk through aspiderweb, and I remember it
used to well, it used tofrustrate me, you know, it used
to harshen my mellow.
You know you set the intentionin the kitchen and get all set
up and step out into thisglorious, you know beautiful
world outside in nature and allready to take it in.

(02:37):
You know, all self-actualized,a spider web that gets caught on
my face and maybe in my coffee,and I have to put my book down
and peel my way out of it, andso on and so forth.
And it's so funny because Ifeel differently about it today

(02:57):
than I did before.
And today, as I was clearingthe cobweb, which is now part of
my ritual, right, which issomething that I like to do that
I like to clear the spacebefore I walk through it, as
opposed to something that I hadto do because it was annoying me
and that was threatening toharsh on my mellow.

(03:21):
You know, today I was doing itas part of my routine.
I added it to what I do and Iquite enjoy doing it.
Today I found myself gettingfascinated by it.
You know, I stepped outside mydoor and there's this cobweb.
That's always there, and todayI noticed how it was glistening

(03:44):
in the sun and how intricate andbeautifully symmetrical,
geometrical, almost perfect inits execution.
This spider had just created itseemingly from nowhere, simply
from hard work, no artist insight, and yet every morning I

(04:08):
brush it away and it's amasterpiece.
It's a masterpiece from mypoint of view, which, to the
spider, is not a masterpiece atall, but rather a tool,
something for survival,something to catch its prey.
When I started to do this in thefirst place, as I told you
earlier, I did it out of fear,fear of seeing that artist

(04:30):
spider, fear that it might hurtme.
I mean, it's funny.
It's funny our inherent fear ofspiders, isn't it?
Well, today I thought maybe theworry can be transformed into a
kind of awe and that we canlearn something from these
incredible creatures that nevergive up, no matter how many

(04:52):
times I wipe down theirbeautiful webs.
It reminded me this morning ofCharlotte's Web and I looked it
up and smiled as I thought aboutthat beautiful children's story
by EB White that personifiedthe spider, so that it was
someone that we could relate to,something with feelings and

(05:12):
worries.
But you know, nature doesn'thave feelings like we do, and
when we personify nature orproject upon them, really we're
doing it for our own comfort,aren't we?
The spider just does what itdoes because, well, that's what
it does.
It's me that interprets itsbeauty and, in a way, that's the

(05:35):
gift that it leaves unknowingly, and so I choose not to be
afraid anymore.
I can acknowledge my fear and Iwill still brush away its
beautiful web because I want tokeep my doorway clear, but not
before I pause every morning andhonor the awe and the gift that

(05:56):
is nature.
That's really all I've got foryou today.
You guys.
I'm Lisa Hopkins.
Thanks so much for listening.
Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and remember to live in the
moment.