Stardust

Day 36 ( Tuesday 5th January 2016)

"36 Strategies" a unique collection of ancient Chinese proverbs formed into a book
providing advice for soldiers, politicians, diplomats and spies (also of interest to modern-day
businesses and leaders). It was rediscovered on a roadside stall in Sichuan in 1941.

Today's post comes to us from the United States of America, Texas to be precise. It is written by Christopher Demers, a leading HR professional, currently working as the Senior Manager for Employee Relations at VMware. He wrote a splendid piece last year about the joy of Christmas. This year he is testing the opposite spectrum of emotions - although both are touched by love. Christopher is an excellent blogger - you can read his thoughts on ChristopherinHR. Otherwise, follow him on Twitter - his handle is @ChristopherinHR. I really value having Christopher as a friend - he is wise and knowledgable and does not begrudge his time or sharing his thoughts.

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The melody haunts my reverie, and I am once again with you...

Ah, what memories.

My friend, Kate Griffiths-Lambeth, asked if I might put a few words together celebrating Comet Trails and Coal Dust as part of a year-end series. I can only think all the real writers were busy and Kate was in a bit of a pickle when she reached out to me, but nonetheless vanity let me respond. (Editorial comment - as those of you know who read Christopher's blog/his post from last year's series, he is an accomplished and a very "real" writer who adds a huge amount of value to what has become a globally celebrated series.)

Many of us take time out at the start of a new year for reflection, and a healthy habit that is. Sometimes, in the States anyway, we distrust those over-prone to navel-gazing. Too much introspection can be a dangerous thing and often leads to missing the change in traffic lights as people tend to self-gaze while meandering in their cars. To help alleviate this we've managed to corral most gazers and most cars into Southern California so it all kind of works out.

Yet a little introspection is a good thing. I've actually seen comet trails and coal dust both, but then again, I am ancient so don't worry if you haven't yet. They are indeed both matter at the same time hard to hold but not easily forgotten, much like the memories of love.

As it happens, ironically, this morning at o'dark thirty I rose from bed to the delicious taste of some fresh Sumatra with Stardust on my mind.

Sundays are my days. As a child I resented the forced march to church and the endless sermon telling us we were all going to hell (anyway). Well, let's get on with it, I used to think, because hell can't be as bad as this damn sermon... But as a grown man, with grown children now gone and on their own (and the best damn children in the world I must say), Sundays are my day and I purposely leave them free of any scheduled event. It is my day for reverie and introspection.

This morning I was (and still am) listening to Stardust, the absolute classic by Hoagy Carmichael. A quick search shows that something like 1,500 artists have recorded this song... Folks: that's a good song and while I prefer the rendition done by Harry Connick Jr. (he's from the South - I'm biased) there are many you could choose from. Such a haunting melody and words that, to me, speak to my soul.

Ironically Hoagy wrote the song several years before Mitchell Parish ever put words to it and yet the work is a seamless piece of art. 

It reminds me of my ex-wife, simply a beautiful woman who is a fantastic artist. The kind of person who would wake in the middle of the night and have to get to her studio to explore an idea. Her amazing eyes truly are windows to her soul and I, I was fortunate enough to look in those eyes every day. Just not for as many days as I had hoped.

The idiosyncratic timing and phrases of Stardust reach me in a place where nothing else does, every time I hear it, and I am immediately transported back to that garden wall Mitchell described, reminding me of so much beauty in my life with my ex. Following the dissolution of our union it was painful for many years to hear the song I admit. But time soldiers on.

Much like comet trails everything eventually comes to an end and, thankfully, like coal dust even the signs of a broken heart can be worn away after enough time. 

So, boys and girls, as you start the New Year full of vim and vigour and with the penchant for a new resolution or two, I wish you the best in all the parts of your life and living. 

Me? 

I've made peace with myself for having lived the most beautiful days of my life with a woman I'm likely never see again. The pain is gone even as the melody haunts my reverie.

Be well and enjoy the comet trails you ride as everything indeed in the end turns to coal dust. 

Colourful Coal

Day 20 (Sunday 20th December 2015)

20 standard bottles of wine are needed to fill a Nebuchadnezzar. This huge bottle, when full of Champagne, weighs, on average, 83.5 pounds. The above picture is a Nebuchadnezzar of an extraordinary sweet wine, Chateau Yquem, in a cradle to assist pouring. The name is derived from ancient history and The Bible - Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful of all Babylonian kings; he ruled from late in the 7th century to the middle of the 6th century BC. In The Bible he is renown for having his dreams interpreted by Daniel and for going mad, in response to his pride, until he converted; in history he is credited with being responsible for the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and for destroying the temples in Jerusalem.

Today's post is written by Annette Hill, and brings back a favourite character from last year's series, Wizard Oscar. Annette, having taken voluntary redundancy, now runs her own HR Consultancy called Acumen HR, based in the South West of England. She writes an interesting blog that focuses on learning and development called Net E-Learning (but I like its URL http://nettylearning.blogspot.co.uk). You can follow Annette on Twitter, her handle is @familyhrguru.

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I was struggling with this year’s theme, ‘coal dust and comet tails’. It sounded wonderful - full of metaphorical possibilities - in fact it had so much potential (for going really well or getting too tangled) that I decided to interview my mythical, mystical mentor and old friend, Wizard Oscar, to see if he could help. You may remember him from last year’s blog, and my dad’s bedtime stories. 

A picture of Annette's dad

Here’s the wizard's bio:

Wizard Oscar

HR Director

Education and background: Oscar joined the top team 6 months ago, following a successful career with Magic Circle Aggregates and other constructive industries. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Positive Demystification, Oscar is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion. When not busy writing his popular blog, Wizarding Wise Words, Oscar enjoys caving.

*Magical powers: A powerful, though forgetful wizard, even Oscar is sometimes surprised by what he is capable of.

Interview Extract:

Me: Hi Wizard Oscar. How are you?

WO: Still helping people to thrive, I think, trying not to have to rely on my magical powers. Not quite ready to move on to my next incarnation yet.

Me: Good. It’s great having you around in real life. And Wizard Willow Wand?

WO: He’s really well, in his element in fact, encouraging mindfulness.

Me:   Brilliant. Anyway, thanks for agreeing to have a chat about coal dust and comet tails.

WO: It’s a pleasure my dear. Now then, I’ll come back to coal dust, nasty, messy stuff. Comet tails however, well those fan tailed goldfish can be rather beautiful and very soothing to watch.

Me: I know, we used to have one, but I’m not sure we’ve been asked to be that literal…

WO: Of course, just encouraging calm thoughts and images, before we get too deep and meaningful. Remember, I have known you, and shared stories with you, since you were a little girl. It’s an intriguing theme I think, but why have you decided to chat with me about it?

Me: I suppose I’ve had quite a challenging year. When I first read what the theme was, I instantly thought of coal dust as negative, and comet tails as positive. That worried me because the image in my head was of an empty coal bucket, by an empty fire grate, with nothing but this dark powdery dust in the bottom… dirty dust as well that could be spread wide and make a terrible mess… hard to clean up. 

Whereas the comet tail was bright, illuminating and beautiful, but also rarely seen and short lived.

WO: OK… Those are quite powerful images. Would you like to say more?

Me: Well, I had to work quite hard to start to get those images out of my head and to think differently. The risk was that the negative image was empty, but not empty in a cleansed way. The powder left over, unwanted, but capable of staining and then hard to remove, could overwhelm the brightness of the gorgeous comet tail…

WO: Remember that I have known you your whole life. Remind me of that story you told me once about Comet Hale-Bopp?

Me: (Smiling) Oh yes, Belinda was nearly 3 when it was visible in the UK. We were so excited. I remember Mr H holding her at her bedroom window so she could see it against the night sky. She was so happy to see the Gromit in the sky, but we had some explaining to do about the whereabouts of Wallace…

WO: So how are you thinking about comet tails now?

Me: Hmmm. Well, the actual moment didn’t last long, but it gave us a lovely and amusing memory and, yes…. a wonderful insight to seeing things differently, with a fresh pair of eyes.

WO: I can visualise that too. Your positive memory and feelings about that are quite contagious.

Me: Thank you. But what about the coal dust?

WO: Well, in some worlds, coal dust can be compressed into diamonds…

Me: What? I had no idea.

WO: ‘Wizardpedia’ comes in quite handy sometimes.

Me: Hang on, I thought you were trying not to use magic these days…

WO: (Winking). Sometimes needs must. Let’s think about the qualities of diamonds.

Me: Shiny! Sparkly! A girl’s best friend…

WO: Yes…. But I’m thinking technical qualities.

Me: I thought we weren’t being too literal?

WO: (Looking stern) Stick with it if you can.

Me: Oh, you mean carat, cut, colour and clarity?

WO: Yes.

Me: I’m not sure I’m with you.

WO: We just talked about seeing things differently and fresh pairs of eyes. Let’s think about all of that coal dust…

Me: Yes, I suppose the challenges did take a lot of energy. They left behind more than a few empty coal buckets… I did my best not to contaminate other part of my life (my family and relationships) with the negative dust.

WO: Several empty coal buckets. That’s a lot of dust. Imagine it was compressed into a diamond. An insightful diamond full of learning. How many carats?

Me: Enough for it to go onto Elizabeth Taylor’s wish list.

WO: Excellent. What about the cut?

Me: Many facets. Very, very many.

WO: And the colour?

Me: It’s not dark anymore. In fact, it’s looking quite colourful and bright.

WO: Finally. Clarity?

Me: Now, do you really have to ask?

Advent Hopes

Day 1 (Tuesday 1st December 2015)

Number One London – the informal address of Apsley House,
the townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. 
It was lived in by Wellington, who acquired the house off his brother, 
after the Battle of Waterloo (which celebrated its 200th anniversary in June)
It gained its name because of its being the first house passed by travellers when
entering London via the toll gates at Knightsbridge.
It stands in dignified isolation amongst the chaos at Hyde Park Corner.

It is the first day of Advent. Welcome to the 2015 Advent Blogs Series. It is both a privilege and pleasure to host this annual event for a second year and I can promise you some wonderful blogs over the next few weeks. I appreciate that a few people found this year's theme of "Comet Tails and Coal Dust" challenging, but the thought and effort has paid off. New and experienced writers have interpreted the theme in a variety of ways. I hope you enjoy reading these wonderful posts; they were written for us as a seasonal gift and have become a tradition within a broad community. I always find the Advent Blogs a wonderful time for reflection, sharing, celebration and making new contacts - 2015 will be no exception.

The first post in this year's Series is written by my good friend and occasional work associate, the inspirational consultant artist, Simon Heath. As many of you are aware, due to Simon being a popular contributor on Twitter (his handle is @SimonHeath1 ) where he speaks openly about his past, Simon had a successful career within commerce - culminating in being Head of Operations for a number of significant financial services businesses - before taking advantage of redundancy to follow his heart and step into a new, more creative career. He founded Speech Bubble EQ in January 2013 and is now recognised as a leader in his field, providing pithy and witty illustrations for conferences, senior leadership and training events and the communication of crucial messages. He has the knack of appreciating the importance of what is being said by others, his commercial grounding helps, and is capable of turning thoughts and words into memorable and impactful images. Today he has done something different and used his creative talents to write a poem around the Advent Series theme (of Comets and Coal Dust) that encapsulates much of the festive excitement of children and families in the lead up to Christmas.

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Trailing through the winter sky

The comet spotted up on high,

Brought Shepherds out to gaze aloft

With toes and fingers firmly crossed

‘Twas Christmas, see.  And at that time,

People up their trees did climb,

To put on top the shining star

They’d seen across horizons far.

And children out, all bundled up

While parents steaming glasses cup

Faces turned towards the sight

Of stardust lighting up the night.

All Advent hopes dispel the fear

That in the night no one would hear

The jingle bells, the “Ho, ho, ho!”,

The crunch of footsteps in the snow.

At the Pole, the patient elves

Turned once more to fill the shelves,

Hoping that the job was done

As in the East, appeared the Sun.

The turning handle, stopping banter

And in the room comes striding, Santa!

Then by the sight all there were cheered

Of dabs of coal dust on his beard.

Thank you Simon, the countdown has begun....