The black widow spider is one of the few poisonous spiders you can find in Germany. This morning, I was in for a shock when I spotted one on my living room wall. I went closer, tried to see if I correctly guessed its colored pattern, and attempted to take a picture with my phone by zooming in.
For better or worse, the spider was struggling to stay on the wall, repeatedly almost falling off, making it harder to snap a good photo, let alone catch the beast. I approached with a tissue, but, wedged between the TV cabinet and some electronics, I missed my usually accurate bug snap with three fingers—and plummet to the floor the spider did.
I started scrambling. I removed all of the items in the niche and pulled out the power strip from behind the cabinet. No spider. Uahhh! Eventually, I lifted the power strip, and it dropped to the floor. Smack! Our culprit was caught. Finally!
I plopped down on the couch, uploaded the photo I had taken to AI, and asked it for an analysis. Result? That was not a black widow at all. It was a false black widow, because yes, these also exist and, as successfully evidenced by my scare, their mere imitation of the real villain works wonders to drive off potential predators.
The whole incident cost me a solid 10 minutes. Today, those 10 minutes hurt a little more than usual. I had slept poorly and woken up 10 minutes before my alarm. With a jolt, I’d gotten up and decided to get a head start. That advantage was now gone, and I was feeling cranky.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” goes the 1,000-year-old saying. But of course, venturing comes with the potential to lose, and that’s why we often avoid it. What I realized from my spider-catching detour, however, was that even if we lose, we still also gain. My head start had gone awry, but I had received an education in spiders in return—and that is to say nothing of this blog post.
Every door that shuts in your face opens up new paths. Where do you go from here? Left? Right? To a door along the way from whence you came?
There is no reason not to venture, for even in failing where you hope to go, you’re bound to find new treasure. It may not look or feel like treasure, but it’ll have value nonetheless.
It’s a soothing lullaby for all timid adventurers: something lost, something gained—and even what’s lost can usually be found once more.
