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Hearing Our Calling: Rethinking Work and the Workplace
Explores whether it's possible to develop a world of work which is fulfilling and healthy, and how we each need to hear our calling. For many of us, work is a source of anxiety rather than joy, and our workplace routine has become a strain on our lives. This unique book explores whether it's possible to develop a world of work which is, in fact, joyful, fulfilling and good for our health. Insightful and practical, Hearing our Calling traces the history of work, challenging current work practices and routines we take for granted. Drawing on her extensive work with different organizations, the author exposes the corporate world and reveals a surprising and beautiful alternative. She argues that we all have a 'calling', and that hearing it is especially important in times of widespread unemployment and economic hardship. This lucid and readable book invites us to think differently about how and where we work, both individually and as a society, and offers the potential for real change.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Gill Coombs
3Ìýbooks5ÌýfollowersChristened Margaret Gillian Griffith, Gill Coombs was born in Felthorpe, Norfolk, in 1964. She moved to Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire at the age of six, and lived in Wiltshire until 2013, when she moved to Devon with her partner Peter.
Gill went to Fitzmaurice Grammar School, but escaped as soon as she could to work with horses. After several years of long hours, low pay and enormous fun, she decided it was time to find a 'proper job'. She then spent several years in a series of occupations, some more suitable than others, until she studied Therapeutic Counselling, which led to her work as a Learning and Development Practitioner. She now has a private coaching practice in Devon and worldwide via Skype, and runs workshops and courses for those seeking work that’s good for them and good for the world. She stood as Green Party candidate for the Totnes Constituency in the 2015 General Election.
Gill Coombs wrote her first 'book' when she was seven. She won a national murder mystery short story competition in 1993, and subsequently had more short stories and poetry published in national magazines. She then took a break from writing until 2011, when she self-published Walking the Talk, a book about her travels on foot and public transport around the UK running workshops for sustainable communities.
She acquired an MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College 2011/12, and developed her dissertation into her first book Hearing our Calling, which addresses the impact of today's working world on self, society and the broader living world. Hearing our Calling was published by Floris in 2014.
She then began work on The Game, published in 2016; a book that shows readers to ‘score for Life� at a time when tension is heightening between Life and the Dark Powers.
Her latest book is The Trembling Warrior; A Guide for the Reluctant Activist.
Gill can be contacted via her website: gillcoombs.co.uk
Gill went to Fitzmaurice Grammar School, but escaped as soon as she could to work with horses. After several years of long hours, low pay and enormous fun, she decided it was time to find a 'proper job'. She then spent several years in a series of occupations, some more suitable than others, until she studied Therapeutic Counselling, which led to her work as a Learning and Development Practitioner. She now has a private coaching practice in Devon and worldwide via Skype, and runs workshops and courses for those seeking work that’s good for them and good for the world. She stood as Green Party candidate for the Totnes Constituency in the 2015 General Election.
Gill Coombs wrote her first 'book' when she was seven. She won a national murder mystery short story competition in 1993, and subsequently had more short stories and poetry published in national magazines. She then took a break from writing until 2011, when she self-published Walking the Talk, a book about her travels on foot and public transport around the UK running workshops for sustainable communities.
She acquired an MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College 2011/12, and developed her dissertation into her first book Hearing our Calling, which addresses the impact of today's working world on self, society and the broader living world. Hearing our Calling was published by Floris in 2014.
She then began work on The Game, published in 2016; a book that shows readers to ‘score for Life� at a time when tension is heightening between Life and the Dark Powers.
Her latest book is The Trembling Warrior; A Guide for the Reluctant Activist.
Gill can be contacted via her website: gillcoombs.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 8, 2015
I received this book as a first read for an honest review. I really enjoyed reading Hearing our calling which discusses the workplace today and ideas how to transform it. Gill Coombs describes her role as helping people realize their potential and "to provoke thought". Coombs goes into detail about what a calling is and how to recognize it. The chapters on rethinking education and reinventing the workplace were very forward thinking and inspiring. This book offers a great jumping off point for meaningful discussions on how to transform the workplace. My favorite quote "When we reach true adulthood,our thoughts turn from what work will give us, to what we can give through our work." Such true words!
August 3, 2019
useful information, a bit of too much utopia, making money is not considered to be a top priority in the book yet my bills need to be paid somehow. .. the idea that finding the right profession is a lifelong process is clear. what do you live on until then? that's the kind of book that might influence teenagers... but no guidance when it comes to hearing my true calling...a bit disappointing eventually
December 22, 2014
Hearing our Calling is an inspirational invitation to re-evaluate what is truly important and meaningful to us in our work. Gill Coombs shows how so many of us came to occupy predictable and homogenised roles, characterised as ‘busyness� and not authentic business. Drawing on her many years of experience as a therapeutic counsellor, she provides real-life case studies across a range of sectors to show how we too can mobilise to create workplaces in harmony with nature and which support healthy communities. Hearing Our Calling is an insightful treatise guiding us towards happier, more purposeful lives filled with generosity, spontaneity, creativity, connectedness and love.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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