There are moments in our lives, perhaps at different times and in different ways, when we all ask the question, why am I here?
This question is as practical and as profound as we want it to be.
For me, it’s been a lifelong quest that has taken me to places I never expected to go, because I think boxes are great for transporting and storing—but not living in.
I love it when people dare to explore who they are and become excited about the change that they want to see happening in the world around them.
A while ago, Rob Bell made a series of short films. At the close of NOOMA: Open, he paraphrases a centuries-old ambition, which I’ve carried around with me:
May your whole life be a prayer.
And may you be honest with God
as you are more and more open to your role
in the ongoing creation of the world.
Here’s the thing, it’s not a new place. It’s about discovering what was there all the time and giving it space to grow.
As one of my favourite poets said:
With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
TS Eliot, from Little Giddings, in Four Quartets
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
For those who want to know, I’m a quiet disruptor with an extraordinarily broad background. From rural development, and strategic business management through to worship leader and over a decade as an NHS chief exec. Since 2009, I have been a professional coach, life-science consultant and creative facilitator. And now, my work focuses on words and ways of seeing, that I hope will inspire, encourage and provoke.
Lots of disruption, seeing people and the world differently. And lots of innovation, finding new ways of doing things that make a difference and changing the conversation. Quietly offering sightlines for change, usually from the edge.
I now live and work in a small valley in South West Wales, where I write, create, and talk with people from all over the world. Together with my better half, Steve, we run The Waterside, breed alpacas and care for my learning-disabled brother.
I told you I don’t fit into boxes.