Hi, I’m Matt K. Head

I’ve created The Meaning Path as a home for kindred spirits who are looking for something different online:

• Something real.

• Something quiet.

• Something slower.

• Something inspiring.

• Something meaningful.

• Something that makes you feel.

• Something not using questionable “online marketing tactics”.

It’s a place for:

I generally post twice weekly (Wednesday & Saturday) — I write short essays and occasional poems to help you find meaning and purpose as you enter your next chapter in life. My goal is to help you see possibility, overcome struggle and thrive as you courageously lean into the change you desire.

Why do this? Seems kinda random, hey!

It comes naturally to me. I have a gift of intuition and empathy. This makes me a bit of a sensitive type. I’m emotionally in tune with what others are feeling and thinking. I always pick up on the energy in the room. And what’s not being said. This can be a good thing and a bad thing.

Pair that with:

• I’m a creative at heart.

• I’m tired of “playing it safe”, it’s time to get courageous.

• I’m going through a transition in life where I’m seeking meaning.

• I’m obsessed with the power of questions to generate insight and possibility.

So I wanted a meaningful space play with my gifts. A safe space to exercise my creativity and courage muscles. Somewhere I can be my authentic self. I’ve grown tired of “pretending” on other platforms. And I hope, by sharing my work, I can inspire and help others.

But it’s not just about me… It’s about YOU, and what we can achieve together, as we inspire and support each other:

More than a newsletter — A community, a movement

I’m excited by the possibilities of Substack. It’s not just an email platform; it’s essentially a community with some really cool features.

The ability to comment and network on newsletters is powerful. The longer form format, beautiful minimalist design, and community vibes attract heart-centred creatives and deep thinkers, which inspires me to devote more time and energy to Substack!

And so I had titled this newsletter “Head Full Of Purpose”, which was a more personal name given my last name is “Head” and “purpose” was on the agenda. But it’s a bit of a mouthful. And I want to build something bigger than me. I want it to be also about you, about us.

That’s where The Meaning Path comes in. I think you get the picture from the title. It’s all about choosing to follow our own meaningful path, whatever that is for you.

So, I will continue with the weekly newsletter and see where things go.

“Cool, but what else?”

I would like to incorporate the Substack features around voice notes for sharing more intimate “off the cuff” thoughts and podcasts for deeper conversations with others who are charting their meaning path.

Also, I would like to do a monthly Q&A / deep dive / chats over Zoom to bring that connection we’re all craving. I’ve had the privilege of being involved in a few private groups like this and find them enormously fulfilling in a way that I didn’t even know I needed.

Down the track, I want to pivot my work as a leadership coach into The Meaning Path.

I find this whole thing ridiculous in the sense that here I am in 2024, suddenly building something off the backbone of writing and an obsession with meaning. The number-crunching accountant of 15 years inside me finds that fact unbelievable, haha!

Before I get ahead of myself with all these ideas…

Let’s pause.

It’s easy to get carried away dreaming. But let’s take this one step at a time. Let’s focus on what we are doing right now.

• In what ways are you getting ‘carried away’ building a future inside your head?

• How can you pull back and focus on the ‘one step at a time’ in front of you right now?

I hope you will join me on this ride as we build something special.

If that sounds interesting to you, please subscribe:

How did this begin?

I felt called to do something creative, that wasn’t tied to any business goals. So I began this newsletter (then called Poetry & Purpose) as a poetic exploration of my own vulnerability, which I know lives in every other person.

(I’ve since expanded beyond poetry to short essays as the main focus.)

Then I caught myself, why am I getting into poetry? I didn’t even know I liked poetry!

But I soon found out what was really going on?

It wasn’t so much that I had magically become a poet, it was more the philosophical themes of poetry that now spoke to me as I entered this new phase of life, midlife.

I was craving a new sense of meaning and purpose.

But why?

Midlife

I was undergoing big changes:

• Felt burned out and left my accounting career of 15 years to become an leadership coach. I was yearning for something greater and more impactful than number crunching.

• Started writing online to explore my creative side which had been ignored for many years.

• Hit my mid-thirties.

• Became a father of two boys.

• Encountering challenges that come with aging parents.

I started feeling more intuitive and emotionally aware. I needed to make sense of all this.

But the feelings weren’t coming from a logical brain part of me. More from the heart.

This is where the poetry came in. It helped me make sense of my new situation. Powerful images could speak to me deeply. I was craving a sense of deeper purpose. I was living out my personal version of “Man’s Search For Meaning”.

Enter poetry… And purpose.

I was becoming exhausted in my corporate career. And I was about to become a father for the first time.

Life was too short to waste on something unfulfilling.

I knew I was destined for something more.

So I started experimenting.

I began my quest for meaning with my newsletter, the Matt K. Head Letter (previously My Creative Calling) — a weekly deep dive into business, mindset and personal growth.

Later, I was blessed with an unexpected gift:

Poetry.

What? Wasn’t I a number cruncher, the furthest thing from a poet?

Well, not really. It was buried in me all along.

What seems to be said so suddenly, has lived in the body for a long, long time.

— David Whyte

I randomly discovered David Whyte through the Sam Harris Waking Up meditation app, where he did some guest sessions.

I was subtly hooked.

I didn’t even notice it creeping up on me, but my life was being infused with poetry.

I re-listened to David’s poems on the app over and over.

I started purchasing poetry books and subscribing to David’s lecture series.

I was well and truly hooked now.

I still don’t know exactly what’s going on there.

But my inner muse is being drawn to something.

Something I have no control over.

Poetry is language against which we have no defences.

— David Whyte

I wrote about it in my newsletter #63, Your Most Vulnerable Work: The Image In Your Mind. I’ll excerpt a portion here:

A poetic conclusion

So I had this wonderful getaway weekend.

I came back feeling refreshed.

Just what the doctor ordered.

A new man.

And I was extremely chuffed with my breakthroughs.

Why am I telling you all this?

This rewarding experience of stepping outside the daily churn of “busy work” and paying deep attention to the mundane led to another breakthrough.

One I did not see coming.

Late Sunday night, I was lying in bed and could not sleep.

I suddenly felt called to write a few lines down.

What do you mean by lines?

Well... Poetry.

The inner critic chimed in:

“What?”

“You are not a poet.”

“What are you doing? Go to sleep, you idiot.”

And I almost did turn the light off and go to sleep.

I usually have a pen and notepad by my bedside for thoughts, but today I didn’t.

I didn’t want to pull my phone out. That was a massive no-no as all the well-intentioned sleep expert productivity bros keep telling me, “No blue light after 9 pm”.

But then I remembered one of my favourite quotes from Kevin Kelly:

The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, “I don’t need to write this down because I will remember it.”

— Kevin Kelly

It hit me. I won’t remember these lines that were calling me.

Tomorrow would be a new day, and they would be lost forever.

No, now was the time to rise to the call of that inner poet.

Capture the goodness pouring out of me.

I knew I was in a strange emotional but creative state after the unforgettable weekend I had just had.

“Strike while the iron’s hot.”

I remembered more of what Nick Cave said:

It requires a certain conviction to trust in a line that is essentially an image, a vision — a leap of faith into the imagined realm.

I’m hoping that the image will lead me somewhere else that will be more revealing or truthful than a more literal line would be. It’s a matter of faith.

— Nick Cave

Have faith. Let’s roll with this intuition.

So I whipped out my phone, turned the screen brightness down, and set to work, jotting down whatever appeared in my mind.

Next thing I had the bones of four poems.

It was such a strange experience, as I had no idea where this was coming from. It was like “the muse” pouring out of me.

When that muse appears, you’ve got to capitalise on it.

It reminds me of Rick Rubin on Lex Fridman’s podcast:

I feel like I am channelling ideas from somewhere else.

I believe we all are, though. I believe we’re vehicles for information, that when it is ready to come through, it comes through, and the people who have good antennas pick up the signal.

But I’m sure you’ve had an experience in your life where you have an idea for something, and you have not acted on it, and eventually, someone else does it, and it’s not because they’re doing it because you had the idea and they stole your idea, it’s because the time has come for that idea, and if you don’t do it, someone is gonna do it.

—Rick Rubin

And so, a new chapter:

Matt, the poet.

Matt, the poet... Haha, not sure about that. Makes me laugh.

But seriously, I want to play with this unexpected joy that has popped up and keep writing my little poems each night before I go to bed.

I’ll keep exploring the images, drinking from the source and channelling this muse, the poet.

It seems like it’s coming from somewhere else, not me.

And so I better walk the talk of something I preach:

Show your work

But how?

I’ll throw in the occasional poem here musing on the theme of meaning and purpose. These are designed to hit you at a different level, the intuitive heart, as opposed to the strategic mind which gets caught up overthinking and planning.

If you’re interested, please subscribe.

I dwell in Possibility,

A fairer House than Prose.

— Emily Dickinson

Who knows where this will go? But I’m excited!

And I am convinced of the power of poetry to save a life. I’m reminded of this video where Ethan Hawke says:

So you have to ask yourself, do you think human creativity matters?

Well, most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about poetry, right?

They have a life to live, and they’re not really that concerned with Allen Ginsberg’s poems or anybody’s poems…

Until their father dies. They go to a funeral. You lose a child. Somebody breaks your heart. They don’t love you anymore. And all of a sudden, you’re desperate for making sense out of this life. And has anybody ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud or the inverse — Something great? You meet somebody, and your heart explodes. You love them so much you can’t even see straight. You know, you’re dizzy. Did anybody feel like this before? What is happening to me?

And that’s when art’s not a luxury. It’s actually sustenance.

We need it.

—    Ethan Hawke

It may stay a fun little passion project. Or, over time, it may explode into a bigger thing.

If you are intrigued, join me by subscribing below.

About me

I’m a writer and coach. I fell into this during the 2020 pandemic. I’m passionate about creativity, leadership, human potential, wellbeing, and finding meaning in life.

You can check out my website for more info.

I’ve been an accountant for over 15 years, leading finance teams in Australia and the UK.

I hold the following qualifications:

• Certified Executive and Leadership Coach

• Diploma Positive Psychology and Wellbeing

• Master of Business Administration

• Bachelor of Commerce

• Chartered Accountant

I live with my wife, two boys and labradoodle in Adelaide, South Australia, where I enjoy walking in the beautiful nature.

I can be reached at matt@mattkhead.com

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