The ‘Spiderweb Effect.’

The other day, while working in my garden early after sunrise, I stopped to take a picture of one of nature’s gifts to us. It was a spiderweb dripping with pearls of dew in a barren rosebush. So beautiful. Within seconds of taking a few photos, I was taken by surprise because…

The wind blew.

It was just a soft frosty breath, yet it suddenly made the spiderweb appear to breathe too. In out, in out, any breath could be its last. It was only then that I realised something else was happening…

Birdsong.

Currawongs, magpies, and others whose voices my ignorance couldn’t identify.

It was at that moment I realised the spiderweb was even more beautiful than when I’d first noticed it. To me, its beauty was enhanced by its position in a world in which magic can be all around us. Yet, how often do we stop to appreciate it, and learn from it?

And that is where storytelling comes into this little article. Storytellers can talk of spiderwebs, wind, birdsong, sunrises, sunsets, sweeping plains, bees on flowers, the sting of the sea on the face…the list will never end.

But what does this mean for our young people in the classroom and beyond? Only a short answer is needed: Give them time to immerse themselves in their surrounds. Remember the Spiderweb Effect: When you stop to take note of just one thing, you might just discover so much more.