The spider in the basement

The Spider in the Basement

The Loft
December 11, 2025•3 min read

A snapshot memory from a house I haven’t moved into yet.

Before the floor was laid, before anything was finished, I saw her.

A spider — big, unmoving — posted up in the basement of our new house.

I didn’t scream. I didn’t flinch.

Instead, I started talking to her.

Not out loud, not in a way anyone would notice — but in that quiet internal language I use when I meet something that feels more like a symbol than a thing.

I thanked her.

I told her I appreciated her for eating the real problems down there — the bugs.

I joked that she was probably just a misunderstood old softy.

I said she was welcome to stay, as long as she didn’t surprise me.

And then I started voicing her back to myself — like she was talking too.

She told me how funny it was, the way humans always rush to destroy her kind —

how they never stop to notice the craft, the purpose, the quiet protection.

She became something to me in that moment.

Not just a spider —

but this wise, bonnet-wearing elder energy I’d assigned to her,

as if she’d been guarding the house until I got there.

But then, I looked closer.

She wasn’t still because she was calm.

She was still because she was dead.

Frozen in place on the wall,

gone long before I ever showed up.

And my heart sank.

Because in the short time I’d stood there,

I’d somehow already grown to love her.

Or maybe not her — but what she represented.

It hit me all at once:

It wasn’t the spider preparing the space for me.

It was me — preparing myself for what’s coming.

She didn’t clear the bugs.

I did.

Or I will.

But in that moment, I needed her.

Someone quiet enough for me to really listen to.

A mirror I didn’t expect to find in the basement.

I realized then that sometimes the things we think are threats —

the quiet things, the weird things, the misunderstood ones —

are actually our first protectors.

And sometimes the most sacred lessons are delivered by someone

who doesn’t even make it upstairs.

She never moved.

But she moved something in me.

And then, like all true moments, it passed.

Fast and quiet — a blink in slow motion.

Gone before I could explain it.

But it stayed with me.

And I walked back upstairs

a little quieter,

a little steadier,

already more at home

than when I came down.

— Parables by The Builder’s Wife

Not every story needs a sermon.

Sometimes it’s enough to witness what quietly held us

while we were busy becoming.

This was one of those moments.

A parable not about spiders —

but about seeing, staying, and softening into the next version of yourself.

The Builder's Wife

© 2025 Cassie Higgins | The Builder's Wife | The Discovery Loft

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the author.

spiderfeartruthselfknowingseflreflectionselfgrowthmindset
Cassie's got boots on the ground and blueprints in her bones. The Builder’s Wife is the quiet force behind Landmark Building—the one who’s seen the back office, the job site, the family table, and the midnight cost breakdown. She knows the industry from the inside out, not because she studied it from afar, but because she’s been in the mud, called the suppliers, traced the wiring with her finger while the baby cried in the truck. She carries both a bird’s-eye and bedside view of what it means to build: a business, a family, a life. Her writing translates the remarkable world of Mark Higgins—his genius, grit, and groundedness—into stories the market can feel. She bridges blueprint to story, sawdust to system, turning what feels inaccessible or too niche into the most riveting idea in the room. The Builder’s Wife isn’t here to impress. She’s here to translate. With humor, heart, and a knack for making you look good at your own table, she captures the intelligence of the industry and the intimacy of the everyday. She’s comfort food with clarity. A warm laugh with steel behind it. The quiet strategist in the corner who knows exactly what’s missing—and where to find it.

The Builder's Wife

Cassie's got boots on the ground and blueprints in her bones. The Builder’s Wife is the quiet force behind Landmark Building—the one who’s seen the back office, the job site, the family table, and the midnight cost breakdown. She knows the industry from the inside out, not because she studied it from afar, but because she’s been in the mud, called the suppliers, traced the wiring with her finger while the baby cried in the truck. She carries both a bird’s-eye and bedside view of what it means to build: a business, a family, a life. Her writing translates the remarkable world of Mark Higgins—his genius, grit, and groundedness—into stories the market can feel. She bridges blueprint to story, sawdust to system, turning what feels inaccessible or too niche into the most riveting idea in the room. The Builder’s Wife isn’t here to impress. She’s here to translate. With humor, heart, and a knack for making you look good at your own table, she captures the intelligence of the industry and the intimacy of the everyday. She’s comfort food with clarity. A warm laugh with steel behind it. The quiet strategist in the corner who knows exactly what’s missing—and where to find it.

Back to Blog