Christine Maslach, a preeminent researcher of burnout in the workplace, describes having had burnout in the workplace depicted to her as “an erosion of the soul”.
David Whyte, an Anglo-Irish poet, brings his unique vision to the nurture of the “soul” in today’s workplace. After recently reading two of his books- “The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America” and “Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity”, not bringing poetry into the workplace seems akin to neglect and heartlessness. His viewpoint and language as a poet seamlessly opens the stiff, creaking, rusty doors of the workplace to a more caring, compassionate and humane way of living and working. His own poetry and that of others provide us with the words to express our fears, dreams and hopes. Bringing poetry into the workplace may be one of the most profound ways to nurture and bring healing to our hungry hearts and souls.
“The rich flow of creativity, innovation, and almost musical complexity we are looking for in a fulfilled work life cannot be reached through trying or working harder……………. With a little more care, a little more courage, and, above all, a little more soul, our lives can be so easily discovered and celebrated in work, and not, as now, squandered and lost in its shadow.”
“Poetry is the art of overhearing ourselves say things from which it is impossible to retreat.”
The Heart Aroused by David Whyte.
