There’s a story about Robert the Bruce, the Scottish king, and a spider, from 1306. According to the legend, he had been beaten in battle repeatedly and finally took refuge in a cave, near despair. While he was in the cave, he noticed a spider struggling to spin a web on the side of the cave. Over and over, the web was broken, and the spider would start again. This inspired him not to give up, but to get back into battle, and he re-established an independent Scotland.
In my mind that story is connected to a verse that goes like this:
"I am a little wounded,
but I am not slain,
I'll lay me down to rest a while,
and rise to fight again."
I understand (thanks to the internet) that the story is just a myth, and I don’t think the quote is right either. But you know what? It still inspires me.
Also this:
“This, my dear, is the greatest challenge to being alive: To witness the injustice of this world, and not allow it to consume our light.”
Olivia 
I had a bit of a meltdown today over an unexpected email that seemed to pull the rug from under me. It knocked me sideways and dug its claws into all the reasons I have been struggling of late… and all the reasons the world feels way too unkind.
I pretty much wanted to give up, disappear… hide in a crack on the edge of the world somewhere.
And when someone I had tried to call managed to call me back, I did have kind of q meltdown over the phone. A couple of things have already suggested a better path ahead. Sometimes that doesn’t happen on the day. Sometimes I can stay in a scared, messed-up place for days… even weeks… while every good thing seems to crumble.
All I can do is write what it feels like, when everything in me feels too vulnerable. Then suddenly, I find my way through to another place, where someone is sharing how blessed they feel because I wrote them something that made being in a vulnerable place feel less terrifying and isolating.
It didn’t feel heroic at the time. There were no rallies, no speeches, no cheering crowds. No fanfare. But the words are shining now. Sometimes the path nobody sees weaves the greatest miracles.
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That’s true courage!
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