Poetry in the Workplace: Review of David Whyte's "Crossing the Unknown Sea"
Next up in my review series of work/career books: Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte.
In 2017 I read Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed which I really did not like as whole. There was, however, one piece of advice of Strayed's that resonated with me, which was, "To go to a bookstore and buy ten books of poetry and read them each five times." She meant this specifically for people in their twenties (and I was in my twenties when I read her book), "Because the truth is inside."
Despite otherwise disliking the book, I'll be be damned if I didn't rummage around our bookcases after reading this snippet and pulled out all of the volumes of poetry we read during our undergraduate degrees and started to go through them again, this time with feeling.
Strayed's advice has lingered in my mind ever since, and while I can't claim to have stuck to her regimen of ten books read five times each, when I started looking for good career books to read and came across David Whyte's Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, I knew I had to read it since Whyte is a poet.
It was perfect really - I was looking for good advice that I could consider and carry me forward into the next era of my career, but I was looking for something, well, more from a career advice book.
Here are a couple reviews of Whyte's book that I feel to be true, presented here that you might get a sense of the book yourself:
"David Whyte offers people in a corporate life
an opportunity to reach into a forgotten and ignored creative life
(their own and the corporation's)...
A very well-written book that can truly heal"
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
"David Whyte's images resonate to the core.
As a poet who has taken his work into the corporate world,
he pioneers a vision that is at once practical and illuminating.
An arousing read for the mind, hear, and soul."
Marion Woodman
Crossing the Unknown Sea honestly offers much of the same advice in 7 Habits, presented in a way wholly opposite of 7 Habits. This is neither good or bad; I value both books greatly, I guess it's more for what you are in the mood for.
7 Habits has lots of new terms, graphs, infographics, and steps within the habits to achieve; it is a very tidy and organized program. Whyte's book is more of a fireside chat. Whyte states, "in writing Crossing the Unknown Sea, I have attempted to recreate that special and privileged intimacy which occurs in the sudden encounter between strangers [...] Crossing the Unknown Sea is meant to be an exploration and a midnight conversation, a look at our present vision of work and our ability to reimagine ourselves."
After the disciplined format of 7 Habits, I was ready for something with more flow, which I definitely found in Unknown Sea.
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| Painting above: A Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich |
A couple of my critiques of 7 Habits include the lack of women authorities and experts quoted and referred to, as well as exceedingly sparse recognition of the dynamics of privilege and oppression. I'm pleased to say this was rectified somewhat in Unknown Sea.
Whyte quotes the women in his life often, and refers to anecdotes citing their expertise freely. He writes a lot about his mother. He also, when referring to examples in the abstract, occasionally uses she/her pronouns, instead of the default he/him, which is very refreshing. There is one part in the book where he refers to stereotypical gender roles, which he attempts to navigate with fairly decent sensitivity. It's not much in the grand scheme of things, but I could see myself in these pages so much easier than I could in 7 Habits.
Whyte is Irish by his mother's side, and mentions a history of working class (if not entirely impoverished people) and immigrant peoples in his family throughout the course of the book, reflecting of himself and us readers, "we are immensely privileged even to inquire about the meaning of our own work. Many of our ancestors pined for good work [...] Many of our ancestors died while working in dangerous or desperate conditions [...] where we have come from, the struggles of our parents, our ancestral countries, their voyages, and hardships are immensely important."
I felt soothed and inspired by Whyte's book, and highly recommend to those of you contemplating a more meaningful approach to working and making a career. I'll leave you with one last review of the book:
"Truly extraordinary. It brings a poet's ever-deepening imagination
to the world of business and work.
It steadies us, gives us grounding,
and offers profound images for locating our work deep in the soul."
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
