All the while, this little machine trundles through life, the dials get turned, the levers get pulled, the cogs get greased – tweaks here, adjustments there, fuel in the tank and away we go.
It’s almost 15 years since Caroline and I walked through the back of the wardrobe and out into the fantastical world of owning a bookshop. This little piece of Narnia, which we took over just as the 2008 financial crash was getting under way, never ceases to amaze and excite us. Businesses, regardless of what they do, are a series of ledgers; credits and debits; processes and principles; inputs and outputs; dreams and realities. A business is a machine, it has to operate efficiently, it has to have a purpose, it does something, it contributes something to making the world a better place in which to live. It develops partnerships, co-exists with other like-minded organisations, it looks for opportunities to evolve – it keeps an ear to the ground, it takes the temperature, it listens to the world and sees what’s going on. All the while, this little machine trundles through life, the dials get turned, the levers get pulled, the cogs get greased – tweaks here, adjustments there, fuel in the tank and away we go. But more than anything else, a business should be an adventure – not just for us, but for our colleagues and for our customers too – on the face of it we own a bookshop, but in reality what we own is a wardrobe.
The early 20th century was a prolific time for a certain type of poet – I’m going to think of them as ‘The Upbeats’ – their work perhaps a little cheesy or twee by modern, more cynical standards. Generally, there was little to be enthusiastic about in the first half of the 1900’s – war and financial strife were everyday issues, life for many was difficult and yet in art and literature the tone could be more upbeat. The pages of a story could take you to a better place, the stanzas of a poem could fill your heart with hope – the machine of writing had a purpose and helped make the world a better, more bearable place. The little-known American poet Berton Braley was very much one of ‘The Upbeats’.
Opportunity by Berton Braley (1882 – 1966)
With doubt and dismay you are smitten
You think there’s no chance for you, son?
Why, the best books haven’t been written,
The best race hasn’t been run,
The best score hasn’t been made yet,
The best song hasn’t been sung,
The best tune hasn’t been played yet,
Cheer up, for the world is young!
No chance? Why the world is just eager
For things that you ought to create,
It’s store of true wealth is still meager,
It’s needs are incessant and great,
It yearns for more power and beauty,
More laughter and love and romance,
More loyalty, labour and duty,
No chance? – why there’s nothing but chance!
For the best verse hasn’t been rhymed yet,
The best house hasn’t been planned,
The highest peak hasn’t been climbed yet,
The mightiest rivers aren’t spanned,
Don’t worry and fret, faint hearted,
The chances have just begun,
For the best jobs haven’t been started,
The best work hasn’t been done.
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