Thank you for being here. I’m Sam, based in Cornwall with my intrepid wife and prognosis-defying son.
I believe we all long for deeper connections with one another.
And, after sharing reverential space and stories with hundreds of people as an oral storyteller and hundreds of thousands more as a language and communications consultant, I believe stories and careful word choice have what it takes to guide us further down.
Highlights
– Practiced oral storyteller: founder of Recalling Fire: the organisation bringing the oral tradition back to the modern west. I have facilitated immersive weekend-long events, hosted storytelling evenings and been guest speaker on stages and at rallies.
– A ‘cryer’: a once guarded and proud man, I am now open and willing to model the vulnerability I accessed in coming to terms with the birth of my son with a profound brain disorder.
– Well-versed in organisational environments: I’ve worked for over 10 years as a marketing and communications expert, representing agencies around the world before opening my own consultancy.
– Sure-foot: I am a wild camper and a trainee mountain leader. I habitually practice ‘nature solos’ as guided by The Bio-Leadership Project, spending 24 hours alone in a wild spot without food, book, phone or anything else to ‘do’ as I focus my energy on purely ‘being’.
– Group guide – I have developed and facilitated events to bring the people of organisations and groups closer together, including conservationists with The Wildlife Trusts, activists with Right to Roam and social prescribers with Newquay Orchard.
– Mentor In Training, A Band of Brothers, the charity mentoring young men at risk of the justice system.
– Fellow, The Bio-Leadership Fellowship.
– Alumni, Dartington College of Arts, Dr Martin Shaw’s The Westcountry School of Myth and Advaya’s Rewilding Mythology
– TEDx Speaker
The world could be a richer place
How many phrases do we actively choose? How many are habitual?
What if the highest aspiration isn’t to be ‘happy’, but to face the vibrant challenge of human life, to value our scars, our aching bodies, the granite-hard days spent in service to something bigger
Instead of using our ‘common sense’, what would it be to celebrate different approaches to the same challenge? To pursue our curiosity for life’s sheer diversity of people, perspectives and contexts.
In other words, equipped with more purposeful language and stories, what would it be to seek depth over comfort?
I believe we could be healed by that. And, no coincidence, I believe it could be one of the keys to helping us step closer to nourishing all life on this planet.
Have you ever been moved?
I have. My tears and laughter come for stories passed around a fire, live music, family tragedy.
Once, I was a sceptical man, closed off to things I didn’t understand. I rarely cried. Stayed busy. But when my firstborn came with serious, life-defining challenges, I changed. The spectre of my neglected emotions came floating by and I snatched a glimpse of my deeper longing (I shared some detail about that journey in the TEDx talk above).
These days, I wander in the wilds and slow my breathing. As often as I’m able, I connect with Paulo Coelho’s soul of the world.
The trauma of coming to terms with life as a parent-carer – wrestling with fairness, comparison, victimhood – left me in awe of this impossible, surprising life.
In mythological terms, you would say I found my gift in the underworld.
My ambition is to move you
Aha moments. Reflections. Stories and little sneaking ideas to bring you into the moment.
The heart of your story.
Speaking plainly: I will do what I can to help you find pause and perspective.
Living a life alight with deep love and deep pain, I’m closer to the beauty of the world than I’ve ever been. I can see through the anaesthetic of attention-grabbing media and the pitfalls
And it begins with a breath.
Find out more about my work in language and story.
My gift to you is storytelling
Come sit.
Shrug off that thick skin.
We were tricked by ‘day-to-day’ and ‘common sense’ but now we know better.
Who is that under there? What is the story you’re really nurturing in the depths? Where did that story come from?
And where is it going next?
I’m available to host workshops, (in the guise of my oral storytelling organisation Recalling Fire) give speeches, appear on podcasts and I’m open to conversations with purposeful people to ‘see what comes’.
I don’t always have availability. If there’s a project on the horizon, be in touch now.
If you’re ready to talk, contact me.