The webs we weave

how sticky thoughts can keep us stuck


In one small scene in the book, Outlander, author Diana Gabaldon describes a spider spinning a web. As she explains, a spider spins two kinds of silk - one is sticky and the other is dry,

"if ye watch a spider careful for quite a long time, you'll see that she goes only on the dry strands, for if she walked on the sticky stuff, she'd be stuck herself."

This poignant description struck a chord with me as it beautifully reflects the nature of our thinking; each silk strand represents a thought -  some are dry while others are sticky.

The dry thoughts move through our mind with ease.

The sticky thoughts, however, spin us round and round creating a seemingly endless loop of misery.

Often, when engaged with our sticky thoughts, it can feel like we are literally stuck in a web, helpless to get free. 

What we may have forgotten or perhaps never realized is that...

WE are the spider that innocently weaved the web.

The beauty of our human design, however, ensures that we have ample opportunity to return to freedom and peace if ever we find ourselves stuck in the sticky strands of thought.

We can, for example, realize that...

thoughts are not permanent...they are an ever-changing energy that moves through us, if we let it...

fresh thought is available to us and can come to us at any moment...

thoughts are neutral but for the meaning we place on them...

thought(s), without attention and added energy, cannot grow.

As humans, we are all going to get caught in a web of thought once in a while...

it may not feel comfortable, in the moment,

but taken on the whole,

each silky strand, whether dry or sticky,

creates an incredible life masterpiece.

PS. If you haven't watched the Outlander TV's a gem.

Lana Bastianutti