Musings: Pennies & Spiderwebs

A penny that costs more than a penny is more than a quirky headline; it’s a sharp clue that our symbols of value can slip out of sync with reality. From that strange starting point, we open a wider lens on creative work, purpose, and the messy middle where many pursuits coexist before they cohere. If you’ve ever waited for one calling to choose you, this conversation offers a different map.

We talk through the myth of “the one thing” and trade it for a spider’s blueprint: anchor a corner, then another, and spiral until the center reveals itself. Early passes look chaotic and even embarrassing, but those loops build tension, strength, and direction. Along the way we explore why logic comes later, how patience protects fragile beginnings, and what it means to rebuild after the wind takes your work apart. Value emerges through repetition and connection, not through a perfect plan.

The episode also leans into vision and support. Like a spider sensing light and motion more than detail, we learn to follow signals instead of waiting for certainty. Mo digs into the courage to commit without fearing “forever,” the power of showing up when outcomes are unknown, and the quiet relief of friendships that let you set down the performer identity and be enough as a person. If you’re juggling skills and wondering whether they belong together, consider this your invitation to weave the threads and let the center find you.

If this resonates, follow the show and share it with a friend who’s building their own web, and leave a rating or review so more creatives can find their way here.

Instagram: @this.is.a.metaphor & @joyscout.mo

Email Mo: mo@joyscoutstudio.com

Cover Design by: Joyscout Studio // For commissioned art & design inquiries: Joyscout Studio

“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

I think it's wild. I I absolutely wild that we're not gonna make pennies anymore. Like that it seems like maybe not a good thing. It seems it seems not great because we created coins to be the thing that represents the thing that we made up. We made up money and then we made up the thing to represent the money so that we can have this both literal and symbolic trade of what we hold to be valuable. And now money can't afford itself to be made. Like the pennies are too expensive to make. Shouldn't money have a say in this? Money can't afford itself right now. What does that even mean? Like, how absolutely nonsensical has this become? But I mean, nonsensically speaking, there's a lot of nonsensical things that happen in the world, and maybe when you're wrapped up in the middle of it, it is just it's not to be inspected so closely when you're when you're in the center of the nonsense. I've had a couple really wonderful conversations this week with friends and acquaintances who are um really uh creative people and they do a lot of different creative pursuits. And um this is a hard segue, I think, but a necessary one because when you are in the act of many things and you expect one to kind of stick or connect or like or one of these pursuits of yours is gonna be the thing, and then you'll know your path, you'll know your purpose. I just don't think that that's the way that it's gonna happen for a lot of people. Like, if you have a lot of different pursuits and a lot of passions at the center of all of those things, at the center of the confusion and the chaos, that is your thing. And I I think I've been thinking a lot about how spiders build their webs. Um when a spider is building her web, she does not start in the center, she has a corner, and then she starts bringing these corners together. And the center is you know where they all connect, where she finds herself, and then there's the spiral out, and then she starts from the outside and works her way back in, and it creates the foundation of the web, like it creates her her system, and it it allows for this structure of hers to become more fortified, and it can withstand the elements, and it can withstand you know, wind and rain, and you know, this thing is like bringing her food too, like this is a giant trap. And and if you've ever seen a spider build a web, like they look fucking crazy at first, you know, it looks bonkers, like she's just kind of spiraling there in the air for a second, like spinning out of control because she's looking for the thing, and she's gotta build it, you know. Like she's kind of working with the spot that she's chosen. And I don't know if you know this, but from what I've read about spiders is that they don't have a lot of detail in their vision, like they haven't got a lot of eyes, but they're very sensitive to light in the sense that they see um, you know, they see a lot of color and they maybe see shapes and a lot of ambiance, but they don't have that vivid detail like we do, and it makes it really kind of beautiful, and also it makes sense as to why they'll like drop right in front of your face when they're hanging from the ceiling, because you know, you're just a big ball of light to them, most likely. But when a spider builds her web, she goes from corner to corner and she brings her corners together, and like that is for the multidisciplined creative or the entrepreneur that doesn't understand why they have so many experiences and skill sets, like you're bringing each corner together, circle after circle, and the more that you intertwine these places that you've chosen, and have chosen you, your worlds will collide, like they will collide at the center, and that is exactly where you're supposed to be. And the more that you fortify it, the more that you keep showing up and and walking the path, the path that you know, once you start walking the path, the path will appear. Those are not my words. That is the that is that is a creative life, you know. It's not just the creative pursuit, and it's not just the artist's walk, and it's not just the entrepreneur. That is that is that is the life that we build for ourselves, and it seems maybe irrelevant at first, and it seems confusing, and it and it feels illogical, which is the scariest fucking thing for most people. I know. Um, but logic does not come first, okay. You know, and logic comes later. Logic is when you make sense of things when it is uh when you've given it space to make sense, like it happens when you have lived and can reflect. And you know, don't judge, don't judge the space that you're in that's undefined, because you haven't you haven't built the web yet. And and if you are building the web, like be patient because it's beautiful, but it's fragile, and sometimes you have to go again. And there's a lot of I think resentment or hostility or severe martyrdom that like myself and I I know most creatives who aren't at the center of their industry, like feel that the world hasn't just like brushed up against them in total support and opportunity, and it's just like it probably is in a lot of different ways, and it's right, it's right there, you know. But you might have to build a lot more than you are willing to admit, and it's gonna require that you do that, and it there's a lot of power there, and it's really scary, and I'm super sorry, but it will be one of the proudest things that you ever do is to show up to build your own world because I mean you might be terrified of spiders, but like webs are fascinating. I mean, it is like an intricate, beautiful thing, and catches light like nothing else. And when raindrops fall on it, like wow, wow, it's really beautiful. It'll last forever, and that's okay too. You know, I don't know what you're building. So don't be afraid if you think, you know, sometimes I think we get afraid to commit to something too, because we're like, what if it's forever? And I don't want this to be forever, but like I want this opportunity, just do it because you've no idea what's gonna be the thing, you have no idea, and that is where the freedom lies. Have faith in the things that you want, trust and the things that you do, and make friends, make friends, make friends with your beliefs, make friends with your literal people, build a support system where you can be something other than a spider building its web, you know. It's nice to set down what you think you are and to just be loved and appreciated for being, you know, it's it's okay to set things down. I remember both when I found my real friends, like uh people that I feel like I could show my faults to and my vulnerabilities to, and they still fucking loved me. Like that I thought that I was a failure because they because I wasn't like an artist when I was with them, you know, like we weren't together because of the art that we did together. And I was like, wow, I'm really failing because my friend group isn't like me. And it just turns out that that was like the best thing I ever fucking needed because it was like you are like this is the greatest gift is to be able to set down the great expectation that you have and to be able to be a human and be enough in that way.