!!hot!!: Orner

We tend to use the word ornery to describe a mule that won’t cross a stream, or a grandfather who refuses to use a smartphone, or a cat that knocks a glass off the table simply because the table exists.

That is productive orneriness.

The ornery person isn’t usually violent. They are resistant. They feel the current of the crowd pulling them toward the latest trend, the latest outrage, the latest obligation, and they dig their heels into the mud. We tend to use the word ornery to

The Sacred Art of Orneriness: Why Stubbornness Might Save Your Soul the latest outrage