When I was a kid, I caught the occasional spider and let it loose in my room without telling my sister.

But, it wasn't a practical joke.

I was being eco-conscious, way before the word was a twinkle in any environmentalist's eye.

The spiders themselves never caused a problem; however, their webs did – especially when bits of them dangled from the corners of the ceiling or light fixture. Removing them completely would have meant evicting Itsy Bitsy and Incey Wincey from their tiny homes. And leaving them there made the room look messy. Option number three, trying to sweep them closer to the ceiling, left oily marks on the walls.

Eventually I discovered that touching the web lightly on one side would make the spider scamper to the other side. Then, I could carefully pinch a corner of the web between my thumb and index finger, and move it closer towards the wall where I hoped it would be less noticeable.

Not many people know that the spider generates different fibers for different parts and purposes of the web. Some are the bridge, frame, anchor and radius threads. Then there is the mystical capture spiral; the only actual sticky silk on the spider web. It can stretch up to three times its length before breaking, ensnaring prey touching it.

The fiber secreted by spiders has been compared to Kevlar, which is five times stronger than steel and used for bulletproof vests. How amazing is it that such a small creature can produce something so tough?

Each thread of a spider's web is a real-time work of art; the creature itself is a lesson. Rip the web, and it'll weave it again, in one meticulous session. The lives of each of us connect with those of others, like the different threads of a web. Each of us has a different, yet connected mission in life. Some of us can offer support; some of us stability; and some of us hold the whole fabric of our friends' lives together because we help them interconnect with one another.

Down Came the Rain

Tenacity's clambering up a waterspout;
Adversity's a cloudburst from sweeping me away.
Perseverance is climbing back up–
Bold in the face of a torrential rain.
Sometimes I feel guttered - washed out,
like it always downpours on my parade.
Help me give my life a new spin again
before this resilience wanes.

-Tanja Cilia