About Mike Noel-Smith
Welcome to my personal space where I share insights about my books, ‘The Rushing Wind’ and ‘Wild Waters in the Roar’ and explore self-development topics that continue to inspire my growth and transformation.
I have spent much of my life asking that eternal question: “what is my purpose?” I have been in a number of careers, involved in many different sectors and carried out many different jobs throughout the world. During this time I was able to see other organizations and peoples challenges, but never really addressed my own.
I then read Henry David Thoreau’s book ‘Walden’ where he immersed himself in nature, free from societal obligations, to confront the essential truths of life. His solitude allowed him to connect deeply with nature, which he saw as a source of spiritual nourishment and freedom. That inspired me to try out solitude for myself (although not the 2 years alone that Thoreau spent!).
This, aligned with many ‘spiritual journeys’ with friends around the world, sparked a real and meaningful curiosity to delve into my inner self and seek answers to the questions I had. This in turn led me to many encounters in dreams, wandering on Dartmoor and pondering thoughts about the lessons I have learned and above all, meeting dragons!
That started my desire to write!
About the coming of the Books
The Rushing Wind
The inkling of an idea about this book started in dreams and visions a few years ago. I kept on returning to an idea or a sound that inspired me to write down what I was getting from… who knows where! Slowly but surely the message of the 7 tunnels and journey’s through time to learn lessons filtered through. I would spend many hours sitting or standing by an ancient lime tree close to my home that seemed to inspire me with ideas.
I also realised that once I got to a stage when I thought the book was finished, a series of new ideas, thoughts and dreams started to grow. These were all connected to my dragon hero, ‘Ceres’, and ‘Mike’ but with a different story – thus the up coming sequel to The Rushing Wind was born! You can sign up to my newsletter in the ‘Contact’ section to get advance warning of when this is coming!
Wild Waters in the Roar
Some years ago, and after almost a year of arduous training, myself and a colleague set a course to row from Australia to Reunion Island near Africa across the Indian Ocean. This feat had not been achieved officially before, and we set off from Carnarvon, Western Australia with confidence that we would complete the 3,500-mile voyage in around 90 days.
In an amazing journey, we encountered massive seas, sea spouts, sharks that attacked the boat, failed equipment and massive damage to our boat following 30-foot waves. After 50 days at sea and 2200 miles travelled, we had to abandon the row due to personal injury and boat damage. A passing Australian warship, HMAS Newcastle picked us up out of heavy seas at night and returned us to Perth.
