David Whyte
Work as a Way of Self-Discovery

About the Author
David Whyte is a Yorkshire-born poet and a Fortune 500 consultant. Using poetry to bring an understanding of the process of change, he has led workshops in such companies as Bristol-Myers-Squibb, American Express, Boeing, Kodak, and Toyota, helping clients to understand individual and organizational creativity and apply that understanding to vitalize and transform the workplace. In addition to his four volumes of poetry, Whyte is the author of The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America.

Book Description (from the publisher)
This bestselling author of The Heart Aroused and internationally renowned Fortune 500 consultant explores work as an opportunity for discovering, shaping, and nurturing our deepest selves.

When our work is right for us and it gives back to the world, when we develop, as the poet William Blake said, "a firm persuasion," we feel we can move mountains. Maybe we've felt this way only for a moment, maybe some feel this way all the time, or maybe some have never felt this way. But a sense of fulfillment is possible for all of us, and David Whyte can show us how to restore it to our lives. Whyte applies the stages of a holy pilgrimage to the process of seeking identity through the unknown sea of work. These are:

• Longing for refuge
• Finding the strength to begin the journey
• Desiring growth
• Overcoming obstacles
• Avoiding distractions
• Connecting-meeting and traveling with others with a common purpose
• Helping others-a desire to bring hope and help to those left behind

We may think of family, relationships, friends, religion, or spiritual practice as the domains in which the soul is refined, in which our identities are nurtured and shaped. But we overlook the area in which we spend the majority of our time: work. As Whyte indicates, what holds us back at work is what will hold us back the longest in our life's development. Crossing the Unknown Sea illustrates how to embrace the opportunity that work provides for us to begin to inhabit fully our individuality and maximize our creativity.

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