Stuttering pride is starting to mature. No longer a hushed whisper that might evaporate if spoken aloud, the social movement of stuttering pride has turned to root and flower.
In this post I want to consider the growing stuttering community from the perspective of a gardener. Nietzsche, of all people, offers a starting point: “Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in [her]!” (2012, s.382). This advice is as true for a community as for an individual. Being gardeners of ourselves implies not only noticing the variety of life and the composition of our soil, but knowing when and how to work with, build, and change soil (and other conditions), in order to sustain life.