On the power of words, and bringing true identity to the world

Some things I remember.

"You're always stuck in a book."

Said by various relatives who disapproved or distrusted words on pages when there was work to be done.

"Get a woman, not a history book."

Said by a friend when I was 18 or 19 and occasionally seeing a girl who was searingly intelligent and academically-minded.

"Do you bring a book with you everywhere you go?"

Said by a coffee shop owner where I sometimes had lunch, in my first job when I was 22 or 23.

A few things about words and books I've slowly realised over time, from reading The Secret Seven when I was eight or nine, to picking up The Thorn Birds at age 11, to discovering Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald at 18, through the miracle that is Catch-22 when I was 23, to an afternoon spent in the company of George Whitman and a few dozen other word-lovers at Shakespeare & Company when I was 25, through a short-lived-no-regrets bookshop venture in my mid-30s, to now...

? Words have extraordinary power.

?? Books are a magical window into the mind of another person, who might live thousands of miles away or thousands of years ago or both.

?? Writing helps me make sense of the jumble of my thoughts and the jungle of the world.

?? A book can change a life. It can happen in an instant, and that moment when you feel it happening is a rare and special moment.

?? Words written down, creating a meaningful story out of confusion, might be humanity's greatest innovation.

My work is increasingly in this direction: the power of words to create meaning.

• 3000 BC, a marketing, content and copywriting agency working with mission-driven businesses. (Website ... soon!)
• Magnificent Irrelevance, a new publication dedicated to sourcing, publishing and promoting original and meaningful sportswriting from great writers, either established or rising talents. (More details here)
• An online reading and discussion group program for men: six weeks where we go through short stories by six great writers and contemplate what they might say about the male experience. (The first cohort was a great experience, and I'm looking forward to doing it again...)
• A short daily blog about life and living, designed to be read in two minutes or less. (More on that here)
• And this summer, my first book, Rafa Nadal Makes Me Want to Be a Better Man, about tennis, televised sport and what it might be to be a man. (Available in three formats, from free to ~￡5, here)

Most importantly, for anyone reading this, after years of hiding it's an untold relief to discover something that is truly part of one's identity, and to bring it to the world.

Whatever that is for you, find it, cherish it, and bring it to the surface.

The world will look different when you do.