Sporadic, the art of spores and mushrooms

Reader, I wasn’t sure that the word “sporadic” actually had anything to do with mushroom spores when I titled this post, so I googled the etymology to be sure, and lo! “Sporadic” is from the Medieval Latin “sporadicus,” meaning “scattered,” and which is from the Greek “sporadēn,” meaning “here and there.” And so, as it turns out, spores really are sporadic. It’s not just a fun happenstance that the scattering of mushroom spores and the scattering of sporadic events make such a lovely metaphor. They are literally cousins.

Which is to say that these posts have certainly been mushroom-y: sporadic and scattered. But my life has currently been little mushroom-y, too. And I think the spores and sporadic and scattering is all part of the growing process (and not in a fungal zombie The Last of Us kind of sense). But sometimes, when we enter a period of growth and change, we get scattered, and we’re trying out new things to see what sticks, and what change takes, and what doesn’t. And I think that’s kind of where I am right now. So bear with me as I find a regular routine again. I don’t even have a regular running routine right now (gasp! I know! It’s super weird!).

But I think that part of change and growth is also just being where you are. Pema Chödrön has an entire book, actually, called Start Where You Are (and it’s good, Reader. It’s really good.) And where I am is scattered and sporadic. Where I am is a mushroom. And I’m hoping it grows into something good.

And not, you know, a fungus zombie.