I Am Scared of Spiders

I Am Scared of Spiders 
By Sarah Silverstein

I am scared of spiders.  Small and insignificant, spiders nonetheless have always been a childhood fear of mine. Growing up, life has changed. Summer, fall, winter, spring, change, change, change. I live a life of routine: wake up, eat, breath, sleep, repeat. It’s rare that something or someone can take your breath away and discombobulate the routine. The older we grow, the more we learn and understand. We begin to let people into our lives, allow them to change us while we change them. We experience and feel emotions, all kinds of emotions. Happiness, greed, sadness, love. The feelings of an individual can be—and usually are—affected by others. Naturally, we put up walls to protect these feelings from being hurt. Rarely do we trust people enough to tell them what we think, let alone what we feel. Vulnerable is a scary feeling. I am older now and I am scared of bigger things. I am scared of knives and guns. I am wiser now, and understand more. I’ve learned to be scared of these emotions. But I also understand as life goes on that they are inevitable. Yes, I have learned that these emotions are beautiful. I feel vulnerable, my walls have come down; I am scared.