The Art of Living Well

What is the art of living well? By Ross Nichols

My reflections on this were inspired by an interview on BBC Radio with Richard Flanagan, winner of the Baillie Gifford literary prize for his book Question Seven, and a visit to the Vincent Van Gogh ‘Poets and Lovers’ exhibition at the National Gallery in London.

During the interview, Richard Flanagan asked the following:

“What is it to live? Why does living matter? We live in an age where we’re obsessed with timetables, but what really matters is this subterranean world of who we love, why we love…… What answers do we make to the emptiness of the universe? I grew up in a remote mining village in the wilderness of Tasmania, and the answer my parents made to the horrors of that - the closest thing to a successful genocide in human history, which had a white slave system called convictism - was to practice an idea of love which, when I was young, I thought somewhat naïve. Yet they fought for that love, and over decades it became a truth and a reality, and it was I think a form of magic. It made them magicians, and I wanted to write about how kindness and goodness matter so much because it’s not reducible to politics, it’s not religion, but it is the answer we can make to the emptiness and despair that can sometimes take hold of us.”

The combination of his philosophical reflections and Vincent Van Gogh’s stunning visual art provoked different reflections in me about what art is, and the parallels between different art forms. It’s hardly an original insight, yet the learning I had was that art helps us to make sense of the human experience.

As the Editor of Poetry for Coaching – Transformation through Verse, I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on the art of poetry. A parallel that came to me was between poetry and music. If Poetry for Coaching were musical art, say a symphony, it comprises 111 movements (poems and their stories) by 41 composers (our coach poets) arranged by 7 directors of music (our co-editors) into a complete work of art that speaks to what it means to be human. Poetry for Coaching has been 2.5 years in rehearsals (editing and curating), guided by a conductor’s (Editor’s) vision of collecting and sharing poems and stories written by coaches, as a resource for helping professionals.

The symphony is now ready to be performed, one piece at a time. And you, dear Reader, get to choose which pieces are performed - be those poems or stories or both, in whatever order you choose!

Every time you engage with our anthology, you become an artist, creating your own unique performance. Every performance will be different, and I hope that each one supports you through this extraordinary journey that we call life.

Here are some sample reviews of Poetry for Coaching:

Brilliance, Genius, Heartfelt, Transformational and so much more, Poetry For Coaching feels like Poetry for the soul.

A journey that takes you for a breath-taking ride through creating Connection, Love, Acceptance, Forgiveness, Resilience & Life and just when you think you’re done, you take one final journey. The journey back home to who you really are.

Each line, snippet and poem speaks to you and wakes you up that little bit more to unlock the riches and treasures within you and your life right now.

What each poet has written isn’t just words, art or poetry, but a story about you if you read close enough.

Prepare to be impacted and served so deeply.

Raghav Parkash – Executive Life Coach & Personal Confidant to High Performing Leaders

Poetry and stories are some of the oldest, most profound pathways we have into something greater; the currents of connection, transformation, and the love and heartbreak of existing. They invite us to sit with them, to walk with them, to see others in their fragile, powerful humanity, and so to remember our own. This book gives you a simple, precious invitation to meet yourself and others in all the myriad struggles and gifts of living. By putting brief, honest, stories alongside poetry born from them, the book creates so many different ways to take a breath, and shift perspective on what you are going through, or simply drop into it. It brings poems to open up the heart and mind, and to connect to something within and without, freeing you up to meet life more fully, as you are.

Dave Rock, poet, storyteller, creator of Flow Speaking

I’d love to hear about your experience with Poetry for Coaching, so please share your feedback in our FB and Instagram groups of the same name and/or leave a review on Amazon.