Spiders

Arachnophobia is a well established fear. It affects upto 15% of the global population. Arachnophobia is cited as 1st or 2nd most common fears in the world. So calling it irrational is bit of a stretch. Needless to say I am scared of spiders. The fear is not irrational but how I started fearing spiders is definitely irrational. I was not afraid of spiders when I was young. I started getting afraid of it in my teens. The reason is the film "Arachnophobia".

I was in Grade 6 when I watched the film "Arachnophobia" with my cousins. The film shows a spiders of prehistoric origin. The spider stings a researcher causing seizure from the spider's venom leading to death. The spiders spreads across the town causing mysterious deaths. Finally the end reveals that the female spider has formed a hive in the town. They burn the female spider along with her hive. The film was great but it instilled the fear of spiders in me.

After watching the film, I was home alone. I saw a huge spider in the balcony. I live in urban area and we do not get huge spiders. However it was there. I was frightened. When my dad returned I made him search the entire house to hunt the spider. We did find it and kill it. Well my dad found it and killed it. But that incident made me even more scared.

I scared getting scared of every spider. The size did not matter. I was scared of them all. I would have a tough time at vacations. Anywhere I would go, I would find a huge spider in the room or bathroom. The housekeeping staff would not kill it saying they are harmless. I was never able to find a pest control product that would kill the spiders. Spiders survive nuclear explosions so pest control products were nothing in comparison.

But finally I overcame that fear when my nephew was born. I got into the protevtive mode. I would protect him from pests, insects, humans, everyone. When he was a neonate, I was with him. My mother and sister were sleeping. I saw a spider. It was far away from my nephew but I still sensed the danger (my friends called it the "spidey sense" and I hated it). I picked up my shoe, walked towards the spider, and smashed it with the shoe. My mother woke up because of the noise and asked me what happened. I told her that I had killed a spider because otherwise it would have come near my nephew. While saying that I did not realise that I had overcome my fear of spiders. I was not thinking about anything else but my nephew's safety. That is what made me fearless and it made me face my fears.

Today I proudly see that I am no longer scared of spiders. Even today I extremely hate those eight legged freaks. But at least I am not afraid of them. I know I am bigger and stronger than them. I know that I have the means to smash them. Though I have less legs than them I know I am still stronger than them.

[PS: Please note I am still not ready to visit Australia. Spiders from there are still scary to me]