The Journey to Wonder

During the Writing Marathon back in March I spent most of the time writing new material for the latest book. The title has mutated slightly, so that now it is called “The Journey to Wonder”. 

In the blog posts I wrote a lot about the process of writing, with plenty of statistics about the word count and how much I was (or wasn’t) achieving during the marathon. 

I didn’t post any of the words that I produced. So, I thought today I would share an extract from the introduction:

I stole the idea for this book from a wonderful free book that Seth Godin shared a few years ago. He called the book “Insubordinate” and it contained short descriptions of the people who had been significant in his journey. Some of them were well-known names, others less so. It was a short book, which I really enjoyed reading and one which inspired me to think about doing something similar.

Over the years, I have always been attracted to the thinking of people who are eclectic, diverse in their backgrounds, and have always been interested in people who are prolific too. Sometimes people around me have wanted to know what drives my thinking on particular issues, and I have attempted an explanation. Also, one of the massive influences in my life is music – and a diverse range of musical influences too. When I released my last book, an old friend dropped me a message saying that he hoped I would write about music soon. That was a great excuse to press on with the idea behind this book.

This book isn’t just about music though, it’s also about poets, authors, and people who I have worked with. There is a thread running through them all – each one has inspired wonder in me. Each of them has set me off on a journey of excitement to find out more about what they do.

Of the many books I read across a wide range of topics, I am particularly interested in biographies, the lives of people. Often though, the story is about what goes on outside in the world, who they encounter and how that shapes them. It’s really interesting stuff, but for this book (which isn’t a biography as such) I wanted to capture the ideas and influences that have affected me over the years, and use that as a reason to talk about the specific episodes that led to that interest. My hope is that you will find the stories interesting and that it will prompt you to pursue some of the writers, musicians and thinkers that are featured in this book. They are all precious to me in different ways.

The observant reader will notice that men outnumber women in the sections that follow. I did consider this and give some thought to whether to balance it up, but I decided that this wouldn’t have been true to the influences that I have had. There have been many women – musicians, writers, bosses, colleagues – who have had a huge influence on my life. Many of them are included in this book. But I didn’t want to create a balance that wasn’t realistic. The characters who populate these pages visited my life – in reality or in ideas – as the years passed. They represent the key people who have contributed to making me who I am today. There are many other names I could have chosen. Perhaps that creates an opportunity for a sequel.

… and then the book flows on into chapters about David Bowie, John Peel, Kate Bush, Jan Garbarek, Carl Jung, Seamus Heaney, Dorothy Rowe, Margaret Wheatley, Brené Brown and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A diverse mix of people who have shaped my thinking. Interested? I’m aiming (perhaps optimistically) to have the writing finished by the end of this year. 

Have you seen my two books released this year?

Values Count is available from Amazon or directly from my website. It’s a book about values based approaches to work. Essential for anyone who wants to work with a strong sense of purpose.

Blue: Experiments in Sound is my latest collection of poetry with illustrations, the latest stories about Blue, the misanthropic 21st century man in search of a meaning. It is available in a limited edition from my website.

Also published on Medium.