Dear Tony, I’ve a feeling you might have more time on your hands soon, following your departure from BP. Can we suggest that you don’t spend it on the golf course or cruising Cap Ferrat, but instead take the chance to go Slow.
Seriously, has there been a better time in your life to stop, reflect and get into a new groove? Let’s face it, 2010 has been somewhat of an annus horribilis, wouldn’t you say? The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the worst ecological disaster the world has ever seen, the effects of which have spread from endangered sea turtles to Batley pensioners.
“The most hated and clueless man in America,” is what the press is saying. Your £450,000 a year pension might take the edge off the pain – for you at least – but you may also be in need of a lift, some spiritual sustenance maybe, perhaps even a sense that you’re “giving something back” to the world that’s not black and slimey.
To help, you could do worse (or in your case, far worse) than go Slow. Here are 10 ways to start:
1. Read “Four Fish”, by Paul Greenberg. It documents the journey of cod, tuna, salmon and sea bass from the ocean to your plate. If you’ve not learnt this lesson already, find out at least one reason why we need to protect our seas.
2. Go ride a bike. Cycling strengthens the body and clears the mind. And there’s no fuel required, so no awkward moments at petrol stations.
3. Bake bread. It’s physical, spiritual and humbling. Yes, humbling. Try it.
4. Take a train trip. Some might suggest you buy a one-way ticket on the Trans-Siberian Railway, but anywhere will do. Go standard class, and ask your fellow passenger about their pension worries.
5. Learn to meditate.
6. Spend time with your family. The wife and kids have allegedly been living in fear of recrimination. Do yourself and them a favour and spend proper time with them.
7. Start a charity. Surely, there will be no shortage of causes that will mean something to you now.
8. Write a diary, for reflection, not profit.
9. Grow your own veg. They do it in nursery schools now, so that kids grow up understanding how nature works, and to learn about care, commitment and patience.
10. Say sorry. To the communities that have lost their livelihoods, to the families that have lost loved ones, to all of us for blighting the sea.
