After a very hectic day at work my nerves were soothed by ‘Kiss the Water’ a very peaceful documentary on Megan Boyd, who spent her whole life tying classic and traditional Atlantic salmon flies. She lived most of her adult life in a small cottage in Kintradwell, near Brora. Considered a friendly eccentric by her neighbours she became a master of her craft. I was really reminded of the pleasure of making beautiful things well, and the satisfaction of a feeling of mastery in your work. Rather reminded of Dan Pink’s, autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

‘There are two kinds of fish tales. The fish you caught and the one that got away. The first is about holding something in your hands above the water, about mastery, possession, and resolution. The other is about the space between your hands, letting go, about mystery, the questions, the elusive. i am not a fisherman. i read the obituaries in the New York Times first thing every day, not to see who has died but to let my mind wander into the lives of others. Perhaps some lives can be immortalised and others only imagined.Ten years ago, I found the obituary of Megan Boyd…

The more I read the words, the more I felt they were being read to me like an invitation to a fairy tale or whispered in my ear like a riddle. Why does a salmon take a fly?’