041 Begin Again
Hey Garden Spider, you eat your old web and spin the whole thing again, often every single day.
Where do you find the heart to start over, every single day?
Where do you find the heart to start over, day after day?
At dawn, a garden spider's web shines with dew. By evening, it is torn and sagging.
Come back the next morning. A perfect new web is there.
What really happens
Many orb-weaving spiders take down their old web, often by eating the silk, and spin a whole new one, often every single day.
Eating the old silk lets them reuse its protein to make new thread.
How we know: Web recycling by orb-weavers is documented by spider researchers; the Avadhuta in the Bhagavatam names the spider as one of his gurus.
The turn
When our work is torn, we often give up or mourn it for too long.
The spider takes in what is left, learns from it, and builds again.
Three takeaways
- Starting over is part of the job.
- Nothing is wasted if you take it back in.
- Every new day can have a new web.
Eat the old web. Spin the new one.
Fall down seven times, get up eight.