Writing Exercise: Zoom In, Zoom Out
We always think big, do we not? Why is it unfavorable to think smaller?
Let’s do it.
Sitting in my chair outside my home, the wooden chairs on my front porch sometimes serve as a perch for the local stray cat. Still other times, the chairs provide relief to persons visiting.
On Monday, I was sitting outside in one of my chairs and lazily taking in the lack of events in my neighborhood – it was Labor Day. The morning was proving to be bright and warm, starkly contrasting with my home’s cool air conditioning.
Looking across my yard and down the street, something glistened in front of me. Taken aback, I sit forward and strain to see the glimpse, again. I wait. And, I wait. But, all I see is the distance out of focus.
Returning to taking in the haphazard events of the neighborhood, I lean back in my chair and light a cigarette.
There it is, yet again. Out of nowhere, all of the sun’s brightness just got focused into a single beam, blinding me in one eye. So, I investigate out of intrigue and irritation.
I look up and down the yard for what may have caused the phenomena. I find nothing. So, I look down the side of the house as I slowly walk towards the corner where the air conditioner sits running in the heat. Still, I find nothing.
Feeling like an idiot, I pretend to swat at some gnats pestering me. Afterward, I casually look around, trying to show very little effort and worry despite my concern. In the end, I failed to find the flashing culprit or identify any witnesses to my lunacy.
Facing back towards the chair and contemplating what to do, I intensify my cigarette’s embers with a draw. As I was drawing off my cigarette, I was once again hit with a flash of light. But, this time it came from somewhere between the corner of the house and the chair. What ever it may be, it must be between these two locations.
Standing at the central point between the two, I begin looking for any kind of evidence. As I am, I use a trick where anomalies of the background can reveal objects in the foreground. The sun light found the anomaly just to the left of me as I was facing the house.
Right in front of me, a spider’s web extends from the grass in the yard all the way up to the gutter on the eve of the house.
The phantom glisten has been found.
There are two long strands of web extending from the house to the yard. Quite the engineering feat, the two strands have been pulled together in the middle creating what can best be described as a cross between an “X” and an “H”.
Like all webs, there are many geometric shapes outlined with silk radiating from a central point, uniquely distinguishing the art as arachnid.
Near the center resides its builder and owner.
From all things in life, I strive to learn from it and improve myself. So, a thought crosses my mind and I think to myself as tobacco smoke softly drifts away, How daring for such a small creature to take so much of my space. Why does such a small thing create so much fear in a person, which is thousands of times larger?
I am left standing in awe and in respect.
Many times people will make a comment to the effect that the night sky and the myriad of twinkling stars makes one feel infinitely small and insignificant in the grandeur of life. Perhaps my own flaw, but I sometimes want to feel big, not small.
How can I be more like a spider, I still ask myself and mull over.
With sufficient purity and faith, some Christians may believe that God will bring good fortune to them. Other Christians may believe God will only provide good fortune if they work in God’s interest, as well as towards good fortune. Which do you believe?
In the center of it all… in the center of your world… in the center of your decision is always you. It does not matter if you forfeit that to a god, a spirit, a goal, or a mentor because it was you, by only your decision, to forfeit your sovereignty.
What web am I spinning? How big is my web? How strong is it? What lives have I touched? Is it vertical, horizontal, tubular… what shape is it?
The web’s vertices, in my opinion, represent significance in my life; perhaps a person, an achievement, or an ideal. My character and personality constitute the silk strands of web, and charisma helps make it sticky. Carefully anchored to strong principles, the whole thing could come apart if not sufficiently strengthened or anchored to poorly chosen values. Disastrously, if such a thing should occur, there are only two options: 1) accept the destruction and give up, starving to death; or 2) rebuild and continue struggling to survive.
In the center is the spider, the builder, the owner. Like the spider, I am at the center of my web. Like the spider, I am hanging in the breeze, partly living with specific intent and partly living by chance on what comes my way.
Finally, I think about how I had come to find the spider’s web and how we come to find other people. Are there accidents, or is it divine? Will it be of my fruition or God’s? My initial intent was to enjoy the morning. Instead, I found life in a spider web.
What will you find the next time you notice a spider web?
