Creating a web of energy without a true spider.

W hile in Las Vegas for the Nevada Occupational Therapy Association meeting, I planned with the occupational therapy audience gathered at one of the meeting rooms in the casino how best to dramatically illustrate the importance of spinning these connections among practice, education, and research. In Houston, I demonstrated to the AOTA audience the idea that had won the most votes: I put on a red cape made up of spider webs and paraded up and down the stage like I was in a Vegas show. Then I said, “To borrow from the art of the Vegas showgirls, what do you think? Notice that this red and very showy cape is not one spider web in its design. It is made up of many spider webs linked together to produce a fabric that is spun with threads coming from all directions. This cape is symbolic of how we must link together! Okay, maybe I’m just looking for a rationale to be outrageous—and you would expect nothing less from me! We need to laugh even when our work is so serious and thus we need to be role models in living life to its fullest” (Figure 1). In preparing for my presidential address, I began reflecting on my name’s (Penelope) meaning, particularly because of the metaphor in the title of creating webs. In Greek, pene means “threads, especially the woof,” which in weaving are those threads running across the fabric. In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, Penelope was the “weaver” because she would weave during the day and pull out the woof threads at night to fend off suitors who tried to convince her that her husband Odysseus was killed during the battle of Troy (Bassett, 1923). She had agreed to remarry only when the weaving was completed. I resonate with my name’s meaning of “dream weaver” as a part of my role in leading us toward the Centen­ nial Vision (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2007). I am not a weaver who uses only vertical and horizontal threads. I spin a web of energy to link practice, education, and research. I am a connecter of people and action. But, consistent with my emphasis upon leadership being the task of everyone, we are all weavers of Penelope Moyers Cleveland President American Occupational Therapy Association