“The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge. From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens. From the same material he has made every other creature, however noxious and insignificant to us. They are earth-born companions and our fellow mortals.”

…

“Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts.”

— John Muir

[click images to enlarge]

It wasn’t until I moved that I really grasped her beauty. Not until I shifted a little, and got out of Light’s way. Then I saw her shine. Her silver. I had to look really close, because I first thought someone spray-painted her with Rustoleum Metallic.

I sat for a long time with this one spider at the door to our outdoor shower. Such a gracious model she was. A female Silver Orb Weaver, Argiope argentata. She has relatives that eat bats, so she comes from a sturdy family.

It was an honor to just watch and learn as she did her thing, like eating a fly…

She humored me while I played with lighting perspectives…

And she was always ready for her close-up…

Nature never ceases to amaze me. When I say Nature, I typically mean natural things other than humans. But we are part of Nature. We just tend to think we’re separate and higher, somehow. I’ve found incredible beauty in human nature too. It’s just that sometimes, we humans can be so loud and hurried and myopic that we forget to slow down and be aware of all the diversity happening around us.

It has been so healing to be able to take plenty of time and sink back down into my place, as a human, as part of Nature. Just another part, connected, like all other parts, to a greater whole. Somehow, it makes me feel more powerful when I pause my obsession with trying to claim my individual human power. When I ground myself in Nature’s earthy hold. I feel God. One and the same. All connected. Arachnid or human or marsupial or bacterium or fungus or whale or jellyfish or tree or grass or dirt or mountain or star or angel or ancestor. All companions made from the same material. All of us working together. Doing our parts.

There’s a lot we can learn. Like from this one little spider taking over my shower door: I learn how to settle. How to listen. How to be productive, and how to rest and process. And how to shine…by just being myself and reflecting the Light.