Okay, so I’m back at being excited. Not like last week’s firecracker excitement, but still—it’s up there. And the funny part? It’s not like life has gotten any lighter. There’s no shortage of things to do. Absolutely none. If anything, the to-do list is giving “never-ending story,” yet somehow, I’ve found myself here—in this soft, quiet space.
I shared a little about them on Monday, posted a quick video, and I shared with others… almost immediately was asked, “Why did you get that?” The real question is—why not? Like honestly, why not create a microcosm of peace in your home when the outside world feels like a 24/7 circus?
What I didn’t expect was how deeply this whole setup would resonate with me. These little creatures—quiet, non-demanding, and very much still—have brought a type of calm I didn’t know I needed. You know how life just keeps throwing up flares, bells, and whistles, always asking for a response? Yeah, this is the opposite of that.
Setting up their enclosure was its own little joy. And let me just say, shoutout to ChatGPT for helping me organize everything I needed because Google? Google is not who she used to be. I needed curated support. I needed back-and-forth. I needed to not click through 17 Pinterest boards just to figure out how to hold humidity at 60%. So thank you, Chat, for being part of this adventure—even if some folks side-eye the idea of using AI for something like this. That’s a whole different topic, though.
Now, someone referred to this as a “soft hobby.” And at first, I was like…soft? I was going for scientific. But then last night, I got it. I was up past my bedtime, adjusting the enclosure, working on humidity, just sitting quietly—watching. And something clicked.
It was still.
Not sleepy-still (although I was on the edge of dozing off), but peaceful still. There was a presence in that silence. I could just be. And for me, being still without falling asleep is a feat. But this? This allowed me to sit in silence with my eyes open, just observing. And I thought, this…this is that softness.
It reminds me of a story I wrote years ago—Escape. The main character finds herself in another dimension, where there’s movement and even roaring rivers—but no sound. No noise. No chaos. The beings in that world saw her scars, her peace, her journey. And that dimension felt like nature’s embrace, wrapped in silence. That’s what these isopods gave me last night—a little access point to a different kind of peace.
And I’m thankful. Because yeah, I know the peace of God is already within me. I live and move in it. But I also believe that God, in His brilliance, created things for us to enjoy—like tiny creatures and miniature forests in glass boxes. I said it in a past blog, but it really hit me again last night.
Oh, and since I was already up, I went ahead and ordered the next piece of this journey—a jumping spider. Yes, I’m doing it. And this isn’t out of the blue either. There was that one time (like a year or two ago), I was in a meeting and this adorable little Johnson’s Jumping Spider popped out from under the table and literally waved at me. I’m not exaggerating. She gave me a “hey” and I gave her one right back. And I had to protect her from the people ready to stomp her out. I gently escorted her outside to safety, because her life mattered too. Later found out she was a female Johnson jumper, and had I been in a different headspace, I might’ve kept her.
But I wasn’t ready then.
I am now.
I don’t even know the word for what this is—arachno-horticulture? Micro-caretaking? I’ll find it later. All I know is I’m stepping into it, because I want to keep engaging with what excites me. People think I’m random—but I’m not. I’ve had these interests for a long time. I literally have a whole folder in my phone with pictures and videos of bugs, insects, and me geeking out about them. It’s been in me. It’s just now coming out.
So, thank you—for reading, for letting me share. I hope it nudges you too, to make space for the things that don’t ask anything from you. That don’t yell. That don’t drain. Just…exist quietly. Beautifully. Softly.
Because, as it says in 1 Timothy 6:17 (NKJV), “Trust in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”
And I’m choosing to enjoy them.
—CJ
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