Personal growth and fertilisers (or fertilizers)

Today, I’m translating the Korean children’s story ‘puppy poo’ for my blog. It turns out that somebody has already translated it, so it’s not the world-first I thought it was going to be. Oh well. I needed the Korean practice anyway. It’s a touching children’s story, about a piece of poo who finds meaning and acceptance fertilising a dandelion.

You can read along with the story and view an animation here:
http://www.doggypoo.co.kr/. The book and movie adaptation can be found on Amazon.

Puppy Poo, by Kwon Jong-saeng. Translated by Jared Quinert.

One cold winter day, a puppy pooed on the side of the road…

A sparrow flew down and began pecking at the poo.

‘Poo! Poo! Geez, you’re dirty!’ said the sparrow.
The poo’s heart was deeply hurt. “I’m dirty?” he asked, to noone in particular.

A clod of dirt nearby began to laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” the poo asked angrily.

“You’re poo, so it’s true. In fact, among all poo, you’re just about the dirtiest”, said the clod. The poo broke into tears.

Along came a farmer with his cow.
“That pile looks fairly fresh”, said the farmer. “That would be great for my vegetable patch”. The poo’s heart rose!

The farmer scooped up the hurtful clod of dirt, leaving the poo alone as the air turned cold. “Seeya, filthy!” shouted the clod as they left.

It became dark, and started to snow.

The snow buried the poo, and he fell into a deep sleep for the winter.
The warm spring came, and the poo woke from his hibernation.

In front of him was a dandelion shoot.
“Who are you?” asked the poo.

“I’m a dandelion. I’m going to bloom into a beautiful star-like flower”
“How are you going to manage that?” asked the poo.
“Well, as long as I get some mulch or compost, I can bloom” whispered the dandelion, with a twinkle in his eye.

“Really?” said the poo, surprised. “I can be mulch or compost!”

The puppy poo happily embraced the dandelion shoot.

Suddenly, the Spring rain came, washing over the poo’s body, breaking him down into fine pieces, entering the earth and fertilising the dandelion.

The day broke, and dazzling sunbeams shone over the dandelion’s bright flower, which had now bloomed. The flower’s scent flew on the Spring breeze.

The poo’s gentle heart had filled the dandelion’s blossom.

———————

Now, the moral of the story is supposed to be about everyone having a purpose. I’m going to offer an alternate moral, based on some recent consulting engagements:

Sometimes, in order to grow, we need to associate with turds. Or be buried up to our neck in poo.

Now, I’m not really sure if that’s one moral or two, but it does describe my reason for trying consultancy in the first place. That is, I needed to be outside my comfort zone in order to grow professionally. There have been lessons, and I’ve enjoyed my year or so of consulting. I’m looking forward to my new role’s balance of internal project work and external consulting, which should be the best of both worlds!

I highly recommend that everyone spend a little time figuring out what fertiliser might be best for their nourishment.

Good luck!