I believe everyone should win at least one trophy for whatever they love. If you're a filmmaker, you should win an Oscar or Academy Award. If you're a singer, you should win a Grammy. If you're a underwater basket weaver, you should get that golden basket! My family knew the importance of appreciation, and made me this award when I dubbed myself the Susan Lucci of the Gene Kelly Awards. It was called the "Most Talented in the Family" award. Personally, I think it is much more beautiful than the glass Kelly award I coveted for 5 years.
In honor of trophies and tokens of appreciation (for your beauty...?) this is blog is dedicated to some of the hardest workers I know: spiders.
Last week I watched a spider make a web. It was fascinating. The first thing that struck me was the patience that spider must have. Going around and around, I'd be pretty frustrated. And then I noticed that the center of the web was already finished, so the spider was filling in the area from the edge to the middle. That must help with the patience, having a clear goal and being able to look up every once in a while and seeing that there IS an end that is achievable. Then I noticed the pattern of the web. The closer the spider came to the center, the more precise the web pattern became. But the outside edges were pretty ragged and uneven. Rough start, I guess.
Then I started wondering, this is very much like our own lives. We have a particular goal, and we figure out ways to reach that goal. In the beginning, we might screw up. Wrong thread here, missed a point there. But then, we learn from our mistakes, fine tune things, and with perserverance reach the end.
What's even sweeter about the spider web: when the spider reached the center of the web, it cleaned up the center. Like, it made it even more perfect. Makes me wonder if maybe when we reach where we were heading, it never ends just as we imagined. Even the goal changes. But it makes the final result more beautiful than previously imagined.
On a related note, an exercise I've done in almost every acting class has been watching a line of people stare into space for a minute, and then watching them count the tiles or floorboards or anything for another minute. The point of the exercise is to demonstrate that it is much more interesting to watch someone who has a purpose.
So my question: What is my goal? What is the ULTIMATE goal of my life? One that can be measured, one that I can look up and see whenever I am feeling like I'll NEVER reach it? One that will not only be the center, but the foundation of everything. Without that center, the spider would never have been able to begin its web. And is it attracting others? Is it leading others to become more interested in me, or preferably, what I'm doing? What is my focus point?
What am I working for?
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