Mathew Clayton on the wisdom that saw him through 2024.
Wherever you turned in 2024 people were upcycling simple observations as deep thoughts. The most unlikely fuck-ups are now executive coaches. Pretty much all my ex-colleagues can be found offering their services as Keynote/TedX speakers on LinkedIn. Someone I knew in the 90s has re-invented themselves as a sauna influencer. Even the godlike Nick Cave is expounding his take on ‘the great mysteries of life’ in the Red Hand Files (although I note he is yet to address the greatest mystery of all…his luxurious new head of hair).
I am desperate to not miss out on this trend. So here is my pitch…
Before we get there…and just to establish some credentials, my work did pay for me to see an executive coach a few times. He was a nice enough guy. An ex-lawyer with a taste in expensive scarves. He never removed the scarf however clement the weather. We met in The Hospital, a now defunct private members’ club in Covent Garden that felt like it had been styled on the one run by the Dave Stewart character in Nathan Barley. In an extra layer of irony it was financed by the real Dave Stewart. We spent a couple of afternoons sipping Earl Grey tea as he attempted to divine a link between my inability to hit this year’s financial target with an, as yet, unidentified childhood trauma. Try as we might no connection was forthcoming. As we sat there I couldn’t help but remember the first time I had been in The Hospital. It was an event for the Observer newspaper – possibly an awards ceremony. They had hired a young Dizzee Rascal to DJ. His debut album Boy in da Corner had just been released to much acclaim. No-one danced. He looked pretty miserable. They had set the decks up in the corner of the room. You couldn’t make it up.
I digress. Here is the ‘wisdom’ that saw me through 2024.
- Watch Seals
Just after Christmas, I headed with the family for a dog walk on the beach under Beachy Head. For reasons both large and small I was in a bad mood. In August, a dodgy knee had led to frequent hospital visits (an actual hospital not Dave Stewart’s creative minglespace) and that provided an excuse to hang back and not follow everyone across the boulder-littered beach. After about ten minutes my wife texted me, ‘Seals!’ She was waving enthusiastically in the distance. Well you can’t be a miserable sod forever so I clambered across the beach towards her. And fuck me there were SEALS right there! I counted a dozen. Glorious, massive, fat, grey seals darting effortlessly through the English Channel. What a magnificent sight! We stood and watched for ten minutes.
On the way back a photographer appeared through the mist. He had a massive telephoto lens and a tripod. But he appeared to be setting up to take pictures of the lighthouse and famed suicide spot just beyond. I hollered through the wind, ‘Seals! Seals!’. He looked alarmed and hastily moved away.
- Watch Standing Waves
This is a film recommended by my friend Jono Podmore. It follows the American composer Carol Robinson as she attempts to create a 30 minute piece of unscored music with the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart. The orchestra are reluctant to embrace this experimental approach. All of life is in this 47-minute wonder.
As the years pass my feeling of nostalgia towards the Port Eliot Festival, and in particular the Caught by the River stage and bar, increase exponentially. I realised that one of the things I missed the most was all the recommendations of great books, music and films I would receive from like-minded people that met there. So this year I built a social media website (My friend Dom did all the technical stuff) to fill that gap in my life/our lives. You can find it at rcommendr.com. Please sign up and share some things you love. There is no reason why we need to spend time on platforms owned by cunts. Anyway, it was on rcommendr.com that Jono turned me onto to this film. I am also running interviews with interesting people. I think everyone that reads Caught by the River falls into that category, so if you would like to be interviewed, email me mathewclayton[at]ymail.com. I would love to hear from you. The first interview, with the brilliant photographer Rachel Poulton, is up.
If you wish to book me for life coaching/conscious leadership sessions hit me up on LinkedIn (10% off with the code ‘15PETER20’).