Consolations

In Consolations, David Whyte unpacks aspects of being human that many of us spend our lives trying vainly to avoid - loss, heartbreak, vulnerability, fear - boldly reinterpreting them, fully embracing their complexity, never shying away from paradox in his relentless search for meaning.

Beginning with 'alone' and closing with 'withdrawal', each piece in this life-affirming book is a meditation on meaning and context, an invitation to shift and broaden our perspectives on life: pain and joy, honesty and anger, confession and vulnerability, the experience of feeling overwhelmed and the desire to run away from it all. Through this lens, procrastination may be a necessary ripening; hiding, an act of freedom; and shyness something that accompanies the first stage of revelation.

'Consolations, it bears repeating, is an absolutely magnificent read - the kind that reorients your world and remains a compass for a lifetime.' -- Maria Popova 'A word can know you better than you know yourself and I did not fully understand this until I read Consolations. It is an immensely powerful book. It is an extraordinary book ... You will want to keep it forever.' -- Lemn Sissay

David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father's Yorkshire. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.The author of seven books of poetry and four books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has travelled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.An Associate Fellow at Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many Europen, American and international companies. In spring 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today's call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change, particularly through his unique perspectives on Conversational Leadership. Internationally acclaimed poet David Whyte makes his home in the Pacific Northwest, where rain and changeable skies remind him of the other, more distant homes from which he comes: Yorkshire, Wales and Ireland. He holds a degree in Marine Zoology and honorary degrees from Neumann University in Pennsylvania and Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. He is the author of eight volumes of poetry and four books of prose, as well as a collection of audio recordings.

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