Do Lectures - Do Breakthrough 2022
Sorting some sh*t out down on a farm in Cardigan…
During lockdown I ended up chatting to a bloke called David Hieatt on Twitter messaging of all places. David had given a talk in Cardiff and parts of it had struck a chord with me so I dropped him a message to say thanks. I didn’t think I’d hear back as he was clearly a busy man building his Hiut Denim brand and the his small 100 person event in his cowshed in Cardigan called the Do Lectures.
However, he did get back and we ended up chatting about all sorts including the Welsh Valleys, business, mental health, creativity and ideas. He invited me onto a 3 day course called Do Breakthrough (the life-changing magic of sorting your sh*t out) down at his cowshed.
Who doesn’t want to sort their sh*t out?!
I jumped at the chance.
The Do Lectures has had 1000’s of do’ers, disruptors and change-makers meet, make friends and listen to over 300 speakers from all over the world during the last 14 years. The team at DO learned from this shared knowledge and experience, distilling it into Do Breakthrough.
I was about to join a small bunch of amazing people from all over the UK to learn some of this knowledge.
I drove my VW Camper van down the M4 and headed west to Cardigan and found the Do Farm up on top of the hill above Saint Dogmaels.
Crossing over a line of drainage pebbles from the camping field into the farm proper reminded me of the great philiospher Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams hearing that voice “if you build it they will come”! It felt pretty scary not knowing what to expect and as I stepped over this threshold it also reminded me of Doc Graham stepping over the threshold around the baseball field and things changing forever.
What followed was the most amazing 3 days filled with laughter, many tears, early morning dancing, camp fires, walks, talks, incredible food, discussions, honesty, facing fears, abandoning the ego, cold water swimming, hugging, bare-foot grounding and did I already mention the tears? There were lots…
I made life-long friends and memories.
I dug out the camera on the last day as it didn’t feel right to be taking photos up until then as we had all been firmly grounded in the moment and it felt like an intrusion. I’m glad I did.
After supper on the last evening we all had to talk about an object that meant a lot to us. I took my Pentax K1000 camera, which I managed to forget and leave in my airbnb so I had to wing it. What followed was one of the funniest and most moving evenings I’ve ever experienced as each of the do’ers presented their object and the stories behind why they chose it.
If you get the chance I’d highly recommend that you attend Do Breakthrough and the Do Lectures, both are life-affirming and life-changing.
I hope I’ve captured some of the warmth, friendship, camaraderie and magic in this small selection of photos.
Because magic happens down on that farm, that’s for sure.
