Simon P Walker

122pp
£10 + £1.50 P&P in UK
Paperback
With colour illustrations

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WELCOME TO THE LAUNCH OF FINDING THE STILL POINT

You are among the very first people in the world to know about this book and have been invited to the site because of your interest in Simon's work over the years.

Finding the Still Point was birthed out of a year of letters, written weekly to a Practice of busy executives, between 2007-8. Their original aim was to remind the readers of the lessons learned during the work on leadership they had been undertaking together. Providing a sage reflection on the conditions of modern work and life, these stories, poems and observations offer a humane and restorative counterpoint for any seeking a sense of equilibrium in the frenetic and anxious times in which we live.

This edited and expanded collection, beautifully laid out as four sets of seasonal reflections, provide a simple accompaniment to the changing year.

Here's an extract from one of the 52 reflections....

On why we hate slushy snow

It’s been a week of slush hasn’t it? My daughter, who two days before was jiggling with excitement at the snow, looked out at the falling sleet and commented “Daddy I don’t like the snow anymore. It’s gone all brown.”

Slushy snow...... why do we hate it so? OK, so it’s ugly and dirty and we get sprayed by cars as they drive past. But it’s more than that... Slushy snow is sadness- slushy snow is the inevitable disappointment we feel when the fantasy (that snow is here for ever and the world is somehow changed, made magical) dissolves away. Slushy snow is the end of unrealistic hope, the bringing of us back to grimy, messy, dirty, ordinary reality. Slushy snow is the down curve- it’s the feelings we have when we know the best is in the past that tomorrow is inevitably and unchangeably going to be less than today.

Slushy snow is also the unresolved ‘inbetween-world’ when nothing is fixed nicely and neatly. Slushy snow is the remnants of what was before, the discarded left-overs, now unwanted yet still hanging around. Slushy snow is the sour after taste of the unexpected palette-cleansing sorbet; and it’s the cleaning up job before we can get on with a next course. We want it out of the way- we want to get back to normal- we don’t want to have to wait and slip and slide in the mess, which has only empty promise.

Funny how slushy snow is a picture of life just now. We’re in a slushy snow time right now. The economy is slushy snow .

So the fantasy is over. The brilliant, whitened world where everything kept on growing, getting bigger, has melted. And what a shock at how fast it has dissolved away! Like a sodden rainy day, we watch disillusioned through the stained window pain as our past expectations melt before our eyes. We think back to what we had only a few months back, seeming so secure, now a sad and tired remnant.
And the feelings are much the same: regret, some disbelief, some poor attempts to turn the ice chillers on a keep some of the snowmen from melting. All forlorn. The reality is the weather has turned. We should never have believed in everlasting winter in the first place.

So now what? We’re all feeling the same way: we want the slushy snow gone. Like my daughter, we’re fed up with the snow now- we’re angry at it in fact, that it took us in- and those weather forecasters who told us lies that it would snow for ever. In their big 4 X 4’s. Ah, how foolish they look now! No, we want it gone. Swept away. We want a fresh start, a clean street; we want to start again on more solid ground. And we want different forecasters- more accountability, less arrogance and presumption, more humility in the face of the elements.

So, here we are, sitting in the gloomy rain- and truth is, we don’t know how long it’s going to take for the snow to melt, don’t know the cost of the clean up, or how dirty we’ll be by the end. But, for goodness sake, let’s have some perspective about this! It’s not like it hasn’t snowed and melted before. Want to know three certain things about snow to help you get through?

1. Snow melts. Don’t build igloos unless you live in the North Pole. Build in brick.
2. People will feel sad whilst it is melting. Remember this for the next 12 months whenever you talk to your colleagues, clients and friends...
3. It will snow again, maybe not for some time, but it will. It’s never a good time to sell your salopettes at the end of the season. Wait for the next season, if you can, before you flog your gear.
 
 Enjoy the slush!