Image - mrgadfly.com

Image – mrgadfly.com

Last night a big hairy spider ran across the table onto my dinner plate and then decided to sit there for a while like it was the perfect resting place for an eight-legged arachnid.

I screamed, like the big girl I am, and flew out of my chair into the nearby hallway.

My friend’s cat fled behind the nearest couch in terror. The house was in uproar.

Eventually my good friend Sharon* removed the spider to the nearby deck but I remained watchful for any of its relatives.

Later in the evening I made friends with some local possums and then a fox ran out in front of my car on the way home.

It was an eventful animal evening.

Today SuperPuss has barely left my side. He’s right now lying near my feet, just hanging out and helping me to quietly start the new year.

Animals are so often the source of comfort and security in our lives. They can also make us feel protected and loved.

But sometimes they are also trying to tell us something too.

Last night wasn’t my first spider interaction. I’ve been seeing them everywhere for weeks…in my car, on my bed, on my deck, running across my computer keyboard, landing on me unexpectedly. They’ve been everywhere.

However, after last night’s plate incident, it became clear that I wasn’t paying enough attention to what they’ve been trying to tell me.

So today I’ve been doing a little research about spiders and thinking about what they mean to me. And I think I’m starting to understand what they’ve been trying to tell me.

Like spiders, we all have the ability to build our own web for our lives. We are the weavers of every strand and, if we decide something is no longer serving us, we can tear it down and start again.

We create our lives and can change them at a moment’s notice. We also have the ability to rebuild intricate and beautiful webs that are purely our own.

Last year was challenging and there have been many times when I’ve wondered, “Just what is this life that I’ve created?”

The spiders are telling me that I have the power to create my own web and to tear down and rebuild the parts I wish to change to make it stronger and more beautiful.

It’s a powerful message, isn’t it?