THE TIME HAS COME, THE WALRUS SAID

I am just back from our fourth MASTERY weekend of the year at the wonderful Burton Manor in the Wirral. This is such a delightful course to teach as it has so many Massage therapists - all at different levels of experience, knowledge and talent. We really do learn from each other...


At the closing session, I really wanted to start with this excerpt from Lewis Carroll

The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

(From Alice through the looking Glass   1872)

And then I realised that one of our therapists had promised to memorise this...


You see, the reason for this was twofold:


Firstly, every time I wanted to recite this awesome poem, I would sit down defeated because I HADN'T BOTHERED TO LEARN IT BY HEART SINCE THE LAST TIME I HAD WANTED TO RENDER IT.... Lazybones!


Secondly, this therapist was on a real mission this year TO STOP HIDING AWAY IN GROUPS. So without any warning - and in front of over 50 therapists - I said to this therapist:


"The time has come, the Walrus said - for you to declaim your poem"


There was a look of shock in her face - that startled rabbit look - but then it had been 6 months since she had said that she would re-learn this poem for us all. Then, I saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath and BOLD AS BRASS, walk straight to the front of the group.


Now, I had only expected the stanza above (my favourite bit) but with a shaking voice and nerves of steel she began right at the beginning:


"The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night."


and proceeded (without any hesitation, repetition or deviation!) to recite the whole damn thing. Right to the final stanza:


"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one."

Of course she got her (well deserved) standing ovation - and her outcome for this year of mastery - to be seen and heard. But something else about it stayed with me - almost as much as the poem; and it was this:


She had MEANT WHAT SHE SAID when she had promised to learn this poem for the group. And she had DONE WHAT SHE SAID SHE WOULD DO. And this is at the core of what I believe constitutes MASTERY of both Massage and life:

To mean what we say, to say what we mean, and to do what we say and mean.

To my shame, I am aware that if I had not just had that urge to declaim these archetypal lines at that particular moment, her immense integrity would have been missed by me and the whole group and remained invisible to the world.


It led me to wonder, just how much of what we do - and what others do - remains invisible? And just whose fault is that? The sad truth is that what we see is just the tip of the iceberg of other people's lives and their immense beauty. Well, today, here's my mission:


The time has come, with the next person I talk to, to really look and really listen to see if they have an invisible Jabberwocky poem inside of them - something they have done that I would never know about if I did not stop long enough to really listen and look.....


I hope you have a really GREAT DAY


Gerry

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If you want to, you can re-read the whole poem RIGHT NOW

ABOUT GERRY:

Gerry has been a full time Massage therapist and teacher for over 25 years. He also qualified as a UKCP registered Psychotherapist (TA) in 1999.

He is the creator of The NO HANDS Massage Therapy System, which is now one of the most popular Massage approaches in the UK. He has also recently launched the PSYCHOLOGY OF CHANGE, a unique new approach to making lasting change within your life. To learn more about these courses go to www.nohandsmassage.com