But as I studied Chemistry for A-Level (also can’t recall why!) I realised how little I knew or remembered about catalysts.
So I got curious and dug deeper.
And I discovered an interesting quality that distinguishes a catalyst from, ‘not a catalyst’.
Which is this.
A catalyst is something that helps a chemical reaction along without itself being changed or used up in the process. It took me a moment for that to fully land. But I thought, “That’s pretty neat”!
It got me thinking, applying that ‘not used up’ quality, about things that can’t by definition therefore be a catalyst.
For example, money. Money can speed things up, it can grease the wheels of whatever it is we want to get moving, but crucially it gets used up in the process. Unless of course, you’ve got some funky flywheel thing going on which generates more money, whilst the money you’re spending gets used up. By then surely the flywheel is more akin to a catalyst than the money?
Anyway…
I then wondered about what does qualify as a catalyst.
Love maybe? Love can certainly get things moving, but does it get used up? Eventually, maybe!
Which led me back to my original point.
Poetry as catalyst.
I think it ticks all the boxes.
When read aloud, on our own or even better in a group, it definitely gets things moving. It gets the currents, the streams of soul flowing. It stirs up the murky sediment of life so we can finally see, with clarity, where the rock and quiet bays are.
And yet never does it get used up, or changed. Indeed, maybe the opposite is true. Read aloud, with poetry on the wing, it spreads, soul to soul, jawbone to jawbone, aching heart to aching heart, cluttered desk to cluttered desk.
I think the same is true for stories, too.
And song. Especially song!
You can sing a song, all day long, and the following day it will come back and say, “Sing me again”. And it will be the same stunning song.
Hmmm.
Questions for reflection:
- What aspect of your life or work might benefit from a catalyst?
- When have you tried to move something along only to find yourself getting ‘used up’ in the process?
- What would you do differently in that situation now?
- Who has acted as a catalyst for you?
- What needs moving along?
Onwards folks!
~
Coming up:
November 7th – 9th 2025, A Circle of Trust for Men.
We now have 8 men signed up for our annual mythopoetic gathering for men, The Rose & The Wren, in Suffolk England.
Would you like to join us?
Our final online intro session is Friday, June 13th, if you’re tempted to come in November but don’t feel you know enough about what it’s all about please come along to that.
You can email me for details of both of these offerings to will@thewilljohnsonjourney.com
#courage #men
PS – I have a little space to work with new coaching clients, if you are keen to dig into something, do some deep discerning, or simply want to be met, please drop me a note. #coaching
PPS – if you are reading this on one of the social media platforms, a) thank you for reading this far, bit b) please know that I am posting this from my website, a place where I plan to write more of my musings, so I may not be able to engage immediately on LinkedIn, FB, Threads etc… I feel it necessary to share my musings on these platforms, and, house my work on my own site. It’s an experiment for now.