When happy and relaxed, some dogs make little grunting noises. Why do we never describe people as feeling “gruntled”? We say that a person is “disgruntled,” that they are out-of-sorts, dissatisfied or grumpy. Why not gruntled? Perhaps you can find a moment today, as you put on your comfiest pajamas, or settle in with a good book, watch birds at the feeders by your window or whatever gives you gentle pleasure, to give out a few small, happy grunts.
What makes you feel “gruntled”?
Thistles protect themselves with an array of spiny thorns, and there are few animals that would dare to try to eat a thistle. But many birds find thistle seed irresistible, and an opened thistle flower is well worth the prickling on the toes.
What have you braved for the chance to be part of something creative and/or delicious?
“Here. Where I am anonymous and alone in a white room with no history and no parading. So I can make something unknown in the shape of this room. Where I am King of Corners. ”
―Michael Ondaatje
How have you re-made yourself during a time of emptiness?
We are, all of us, shaped by our environment. Like the tree that leans to the side from growing in the persistent wind, each of us incorporates the world which surrounds us into the shape of our lives.
How is your environment shaping your life?
What is the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool? Surely not which one is preferred furniture for a toad. No, a mushroom is a fungus we like, and a toadstool is one we don’t. A fungus knows that they are the same thing, a way of casting spores to the wind.
What toadstool in your life could you re-define as a mushroom?
