Traditional wisdom for today's world




In today's world, information is plentiful but wisdom can be hard to find. How then can we sift what is significant from what is interesting or merely diverting? How can we discern underlying simplicity from surface complexity? How can we create imaginative pathways to help us make what we do more purposeful, meaningful and fulfilling? In short, how can we see the wood for the trees?


The philosopher George Santayana famously wrote that "those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it". However, the past can often be remembered selectively, can be consciously forgotten and can be deliberately erased. But if we can practise harvesting knowledge from the past through rigorous and impartial investigation of the archaeological and historical evidence that survives for us to study today, we may be able to live in the present and approach the future more assuredly and compassionately.


Traditional tales, fables, lore and sayings are also often powerful transmitters of wisdom, between cultures, between generations and across deep time. Through paying attention to traditional sources of insight, to leaven the ever growing knowledge we glean from academic research, scientific inquiry and our own personal experience, we can learn useful and beautiful truths about our world, about ourselves, and about our relationship with the environment - to invigorate and sustain us as we create our collective future.



David undertakes narrative consultancy, research, educational and advisory services for a wide range of clients, including running workshops that explore ways of bringing the past to life through the creative use of narrative and story in relation to people, places, objects and events. Below is a small, illustrative selection of the many different projects that David has been involved in since 2010.