When a maven says to me, “You should talk to this guy on your podcast”, I often do.
That maven (someone who brings people together with no expectation of personal gain) is Marco Areias of the Storytellers Palace, who I’ve mentioned here before. And the ‘guy’? That would be Gary Coulton, an Englishman who Marco first encountered at his Sintra Storytellers premises, where his boutique hotel concept has its origins.
After the two ‘maverick minds’ (a phrase I shall return to) had been locked in conversation for several hours at Marco’s communal breakfast table, they hatched a plan to have Gary return to Portugal to give his book – Demons to Champions – a European launch, alongside another couple of Portuguese thought leaders.
Before the event took place, which will be the main focus of today’s submission here, I did get Gary on my Good Morning Portugal! Podcast, and the rest is fast becoming history. Our first, over-the-internet conversation had me discover, in rapt agog-ness, how he had saved himself from a suicidal end, despite being ostensibly ‘on top’, in life.
This he did by falling in love with his ‘neurodivergent maverick mind’, which also happens to be the subtitle of his book, and something he takes great pleasure in sharing with those of us who are interested in human happiness, which must be all of us at some point in our lives, right?
I have written before about events at the luxury Storytellers Palace in my little seaside town of São Martinho do Porto, and I also broadcast live from its fabulous dining room on a monthly basis. But this event, where Mr Coulton was flanked by two notable Portuguese mental health and personal development professionals – Professor Mário P. Simões and Adriana Carneiro – was very different in flavour (pardon the pun) to the excellent gourmet evenings I have so deeply enjoyed.
My joy on this occasion, entitled The Positive Echo, was more cerebral than gastronomic, but the evening’s celebratory dinner, later that same day, put that balance right with black pork in blueberry sauce, shrimp carpaccio and exquisite chocolate pud. Before that, however, in the Gatsby Bar, repurposed for the occasion, we heard Gary read from his book a short chapter, “The weird kid who wouldn’t shut up”, where we found out more about him and how he ticked, somewhat awkwardly in early life, and as the afternoon unfolded, how all that changed for the better.
This occasion was a moment to not only think about how we think, where Professor Simões, a psychiatrist, spoke about hypnosis and near-death experiences, and Adriana Carneiro, an experienced executive coach, shared with us the mind and society-altering potential of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), but also a chance to consider a ‘Positive Echo’ that we might leave in our wake.
On that note, and to explain, Gary’s late father Harry asked him, shortly before he died: “Gary, who do you want to come to your funeral and what was it you did for them that made them want to come?”. This is the Positive Echo, from which the event took its name and now the podcast that Munson & Coulton do together on an ongoing, fortnightly basis.
“This is not about being nice to everyone,” Gary will tell you. “It is about giving people something they can grasp and make a better life with. Maybe a conversation or something done on their behalf.”
As my work with mainly retiring expats in Portugal inevitably and satisfyingly leads to talk of giving back and legacy, the idea of Portuguese Positive Echoes has great appeal, and offers a lovely talking point and framework, around and upon which we, hopeful humans, can build dreams, take positive action, and make our mark in a way that might ‘fill the church’ and cause ‘standing room only’ when that inevitable day comes.
I was actually on hand at the proceedings to MC and chair post-presentation discussion. But so intriguing were the ideas shared that I forgot about my role and just jumped head-first into a fascinating, mind-expanding and heart-opening conversation, as I suspect Marco, our host, had intended.
“We came to the Storytellers Palace only knowing Marco. We left with many new friends, all fired up to test out their newfound ‘Positive Echoes’,” said Gary of the event in his Substack report. “Without knowing it, one day they’d begun their journeys to becoming fully-fledged ‘Positive Echo’ mavens.”
And he has big plans for the idea: “I believe that all the ills of the world can be defeated, or at least diminished, through the power of our ‘Positive Echoes’. The fun comes from experimenting with the concept, and expecting nothing in return,” he says.
“Where once I lived despite my maverick mind, I now thrive because of it,” he adds, having had, just a few years ago, an “awakening” where he identified himself as neuro-divergent, with ADHD, and associated autistic traits.
“At the age of 67, I’m certain of three things,” says Gary. “My mind is different. Unconditional love is at the heart of everything good” and “My life’s purpose is to leave an echo in people’s hearts and minds.”
To me, what’s so delightful and liberating about this maverick-minded man is seeing the freedom that can come from transcending our conditioning, preconceptions and even depression, to discover who we truly are and thereafter share whatever gifts might be realised in the process.
The very same ‘mind’ that once made his life a misery, a living hell, is now his friend. And the peace and love that he can now enjoy is being ‘paid forward’.
“I love my hyperactive mind. It’s taken a lifetime to saddle this maverick and enjoy the ride,” we hear from him in conclusion. His memoir is the story of that “mad gallop”. Bringing hope to all whose minds might make their life a misery, Gary openly shares “how it almost rode me over a cliff and took my life, (yet) we became allies and now travel in harmony.”
Such battles are often private, and we never really know what’s going on in one another’s minds. So, I can only hope that such relief and redemption are yours too. And should it be so, ask: “What’s your Positive Echo going to be here in Portugal?”
Catch the ‘Positive Echo Podcast’ on Spotify
