1 in 8 Billion · The grain of this life

The sixteen grains

A grain shows, in four pairs of words, which way a life leans as it goes. These names belong to a single life, not to a person. The next life may have another grain. No grain is better than another.

In 1 in 8 Billion, a life lived into adulthood shows the grain of this life on its record and its memorial when it ends.

The four pairs

• Togethertime spent with people
• Workthe heart put into work
• Rootsstaying put in one place
• Windsetting out for far places
• Stillnessdays that stay steady
• Waveschanging and starting anew
• Todayenjoying the present
• Tomorrowbuilding for the days ahead

How far a life leans

Each pair is read as how far a life leaned to one side: half and half, a little, or a lot. No life is only one side. Half and half is not a lack: it means both sides are mixed evenly.

The nearest name

Put together, the four leanings come nearest to one of sixteen names. A name is only the nearest one. A life that is half and half on more than one pair is not gathered into a single name. The order below is always the same and says nothing about how common or how good a grain is.

• The neighbor on the porchTogether · Roots · Stillness · Today
• The deep-rooted treeTogether · Roots · Stillness · Tomorrow
• The one who throws the feastTogether · Roots · Waves · Today
• The village builderTogether · Roots · Waves · Tomorrow
• The one who sets a table anywhereTogether · Wind · Stillness · Today
• The one who goes far for familyTogether · Wind · Stillness · Tomorrow
• The friend on the roadTogether · Wind · Waves · Today
• The bridge builderTogether · Wind · Waves · Tomorrow
• The keeper of one craftWork · Roots · Stillness · Today
• The seed planterWork · Roots · Stillness · Tomorrow
• The starter of new thingsWork · Roots · Waves · Today
• The one who builds home anewWork · Roots · Waves · Tomorrow
• The one who does their part anywhereWork · Wind · Stillness · Today
• The one who lays foundations far awayWork · Wind · Stillness · Tomorrow
• The wind riderWork · Wind · Waves · Today
• The trailblazerWork · Wind · Waves · Tomorrow
• A grain no single name can holdA life half and half on more than one pair

The colour and flower of this life

• Where the pairs Together·Work and Today·Tomorrow lean becomes the hue.
• The further it leans, the clearer the colour; the closer to half and half, the more cream.
• Roots·Wind turn the hue a little, and Stillness·Waves set how light it is.
• One petal for each pair, growing toward the side it leaned, as far as it leaned.
• So lives with the same grain name still differ in colour and flower.
• A colour's name is only the nearest one; no colour is better than another.