If you can store your spices whole, and grind what you need just before cooking, the flavours will be vibrant and you will also not need as much as if you're using pre-ground spices from your pantry.
Using a mortar and pestle gives me a mental kick of satisfaction, and I use that if the grinding isn't going to be too hard... However, because my hand is weakened due to a medical condition, for some things the mortar and pestle method is too much of a strain. You can use any sort of spice grinder, or even a nice cheap little coffee grinder (not a conical burr or dedicated niche coffee grinder), and use just as much as you need for the recipe.
For nutmeg, a whole nutmeg beats pre-ground nutmeg very convincingly. Just smelling the stuff is an exercise in delight. You won't even need a spice grinder as such - just one of those spice graters (such as Microplane makes).
If you're using fresh herbs, it's a general rule to put them into the dish close to the end of the cooking process rather than at the start. Being fresh, they'll release their volatile oils very quickly and they don't need a long time to bloom.
