Sarah, if I saw a spider THAT BIG in MY HOUSE, I'd be grabbing the nearest book and killing it too! In my case the book would probably be "Being Peace"...... LOL.
you need a cat. when we lived in what is now jodi's place we sometimes had giant spiders come down the chimney and our cat would eat them (and then i would freak out and think that it would bite her insides-they never did).
It saddens me that you killed a spider. Thats what i've been studying in school. I also put together an entire spider exhibit at the nature center I work at as well as finishing up work on the spider festival I am having in two weeks. Spiders are good for you, they eat lots of insects and keep them in check. Next time you see one, just shoo it outside, there are only a handful of spiders that could even hurt you :)
It saddens me that you killed a spider. Thats what i've been studying in school. I also put together an entire spider exhibit at the nature center I work at as well as finishing up work on the spider festival I am having in two weeks. Spiders are good for you, they eat lots of insects and keep them in check. Next time you see one, just shoo it outside, there are only a handful of spiders that could even hurt you :)
as a fellow dedicated vegan, i identify with your spider fear, especially fear of big spiders, and the guilt that can ensue.
to address this fear, in graduate school i did a race, class, and gender analysis of arachnology (yes, it can be done!), studied spider folklore, and journalled about my childhood experiences with spiders. (many of them quite traumatizing.) the project actually helped. well, a little. i no longer have stress-induced spider dreams. well, not as much anyway.
i'm lucky that i live in ontario, as the house spiders we have here tend to be fairly small and yellowish. when i was in vancouver a few years ago, i was introduced to who my fried affectionately called, "mouse spiders," because of their size. it seems that you are well acquainted with them! (*cold shivers*)
it always kinds of stuns me when people point out (no offense to the previous poster) that spiders are "good for you" and that they are ecologically beneficial. of course you know this, already! if factual information were the only thing standing between people and phobias, i think many therapists would be out of business. there's deep psychological stuff going on there, and so try not to beat yourself up too much for being afraid and acting on that fear.
one of the profs that i handed my big spider project to took great pains to point out to me that, although it is admirable that i was confronting my arachnophobia, there are all sorts of evolutionary and biological reasons that people are afraid of spiders. in fact, its a common fear in many parts of the world, and not entirely unfounded. (that is to say, i didn't have to brush it all away as "irrational" and "what's wrong with me that i turn into a vicious killer"). and this prof was an environmental studies prof, so i took heed.
i've gotten to the point that i can put them outside (via the jar method), but like i said, we have a smaller variety here. i also name some of them that make it into my bathroom. "my, lisa-sue, you're looking dapper today!" it seems to help.
anyway, this is my long-winded way to say you're not alone!
10 comments:
Just name them all "Charlotte" and wish them Salutations :)
Sarah, if I saw a spider THAT BIG in MY HOUSE, I'd be grabbing the nearest book and killing it too! In my case the book would probably be "Being Peace"...... LOL.
you need a cat. when we lived in what is now jodi's place we sometimes had giant spiders come down the chimney and our cat would eat them (and then i would freak out and think that it would bite her insides-they never did).
Some of the spiders around here are quite dangerous. Does it still count on the vegan-meter if you are defending yourself and your loved ones?
Perhaps there are some vegan insect/arachnid repellents?
capture it with a big empty glass upsidedown, then slip a piece of paper under. then carry it outside.
works with all kind of insects.
we live in a forest, i do it several times a day...
our cat keeps leaving dead spiders in the middle of the floor for us... she rocks.
I live in the woods outside of Van and a wolf spider the size of my palm was in my sink last week. No mercy!
I have been vacuuming every crevice in my house twice a week to suck the little buggers up.
It saddens me that you killed a spider. Thats what i've been studying in school. I also put together an entire spider exhibit at the nature center I work at as well as finishing up work on the spider festival I am having in two weeks. Spiders are good for you, they eat lots of insects and keep them in check. Next time you see one, just shoo it outside, there are only a handful of spiders that could even hurt you :)
It saddens me that you killed a spider. Thats what i've been studying in school. I also put together an entire spider exhibit at the nature center I work at as well as finishing up work on the spider festival I am having in two weeks. Spiders are good for you, they eat lots of insects and keep them in check. Next time you see one, just shoo it outside, there are only a handful of spiders that could even hurt you :)
dear sarah,
as a fellow dedicated vegan, i identify with your spider fear, especially fear of big spiders, and the guilt that can ensue.
to address this fear, in graduate school i did a race, class, and gender analysis of arachnology (yes, it can be done!), studied spider folklore, and journalled about my childhood experiences with spiders. (many of them quite traumatizing.) the project actually helped. well, a little. i no longer have stress-induced spider dreams. well, not as much anyway.
i'm lucky that i live in ontario, as the house spiders we have here tend to be fairly small and yellowish. when i was in vancouver a few years ago, i was introduced to who my fried affectionately called, "mouse spiders," because of their size. it seems that you are well acquainted with them! (*cold shivers*)
it always kinds of stuns me when people point out (no offense to the previous poster) that spiders are "good for you" and that they are ecologically beneficial. of course you know this, already! if factual information were the only thing standing between people and phobias, i think many therapists would be out of business. there's deep psychological stuff going on there, and so try not to beat yourself up too much for being afraid and acting on that fear.
one of the profs that i handed my big spider project to took great pains to point out to me that, although it is admirable that i was confronting my arachnophobia, there are all sorts of evolutionary and biological reasons that people are afraid of spiders. in fact, its a common fear in many parts of the world, and not entirely unfounded. (that is to say, i didn't have to brush it all away as "irrational" and "what's wrong with me that i turn into a vicious killer"). and this prof was an environmental studies prof, so i took heed.
i've gotten to the point that i can put them outside (via the jar method), but like i said, we have a smaller variety here. i also name some of them that make it into my bathroom. "my, lisa-sue, you're looking dapper today!" it seems to help.
anyway, this is my long-winded way to say you're not alone!
lauren
Post a Comment