Has your life ever been transformed by a honeybee? Has something ever happened to you that makes you more happy, content and beautiful than you ever dreamed you could be? Have you ever had a day that’s taken a turn around a corner and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, when you’ve least expected it, something goes ‘BUZZ’ in the most stunningly eternal way? I never thought it could happen to me. But 2 and a half years ago, it did. In a massive way. And the garden of my existence is now perfect. And at midday this Saturday, I’m marrying the beautiful honeybee that brought this buzz.
She doesn’t know I’m writing this, but I’d like to share for a few moments a few things about this truly unique honeybee that make my life so stunningly eternal. Forgive me, this is the most personal thing I have ever written. Even some of closest friends have never heard this.
This will be the last time I write this blog. I’ve loved it. Thank you to you all for your thoughts and comments along the way. When I say this is the last time I write this, don’t worry, there’ll be many, many more. But the man who’ll be writing the future blogs will be different. His name will still be Jonathan Cattell. But it won’t be me anymore. Instead, it will be the man I never for a moment dared hope or dream I could one day be. The writer of future blogs will be the proud, privileged, blessed and blissful husband of Lisa Cattell. This morning, her name is Lisa Mitchell. And she’s got 5 days left to sign things as ‘Lisa Mitchell’. After that, she’ll be my wife. And she – like me – is so, so excited. We’ve already received the passport in her new name. And we’re buzzing from the bottom of our hearts.
I never, ever thought life could ever feel like this.
My life has always been fascinating and blessed. I’ve always had everything I wanted. I don’t mean toys and products, I mean loving support. I was born to the most incredible mother life can provide. She raised me in ways that when you listen to some children, make you realise are truly unique. And for years, mum was my best friend. Don’t get me wrong, I was never a mummy’s boy or attention-dependent, I just always knew that whatever I chose to do, she’d be right behind me. Supporting me, having fun with me over the phone while I did it, yet also challenging me when I was talking rubbish or getting too big for my boots. We didn’t have any money, or a fast car, and we didn’t talk like posh people. Mum simply showed me that if I wanted to be happy, I had to work hard, do my best, be kind to people and see where that all takes me. So off I went. I never had a dad. He wasn’t interested, so I got everything from my mum instead. Then one day, in Leicestershire, I went up to the big school. I was 10. And I went to a lesson called ‘French’. It sounded really funny. It was a game where you had to make strange noises. And it didn’t make sense. But it made me buzz. And I tried my best to copy the sounds. It was fun. And the harder I tried, the more fun I had. And the more fun I had, the harder I tried. Funny buzz.
Then the next year, while getting better at football and able to compete for the first time with the cool kids and starting to realise how strangely nice some girls were (in a weird sort of way), we were told about something called ‘German’. It was like French, and they spoke it in a place called ‘Germany’. So I gave it a go. It was even stranger than French. And good grief did it sound funny. If you copied the sounds and learned to speak the words, you could be someone different and have a right laugh. What a fantastic game. Cool as heck. So I did my best. And with all this French and German, you could copy other people from other parts of the world. This was brilliant. Buzzy buzz buzz.
Suddenly, at 14, we moved to Lancashire. And in my first week there, I got badly beaten up by six boys. Apparently, I talked funny, so I deserved it. And sitting at the doctor’s, I realised I needed to hide, make new friends fast, and also be a bit tougher. So I joined the air cadets. Buzz. But quietly, to protect myself, I hid. I covered myself up so that no-one would see me or hear my funny talk. I hid inside French and German. And for some reason, I seemed to become quite good at it. So I hid deeper. And my life became about 2 things. Languages and becoming a military pilot. I could hide, but at the same time be tough. Girls could wait. Buzz… but only sort of.
Then we moved to London. And again, I talked funny. But I didn’t get beaten up. I was just ‘northern Jon’. And the people there were lovely. They thought it funny that a northerner could speak French and German so well. And when I got a scholarship from the RAF to become a pilot, they thought it was cool. And I was proud. So was my mum. Alas, the pilot thing wasn’t for me. So back into languages I dived. I did a degree in French, German and Russian. It was great, no-one could see me. The flower of my life was hidden and closed. But bugger, was I loving languages! And over the years, I learned Austrian German, Swiss-German, more Russian, I worked with Austrians and Russians in the Maldives to improve my languages and while there I learned Maldivian (‘Dhivehi’) and met people from all over the world. And going beyond, I realised the impact we can have by showing others respect and love by trying just a few words of their language. It opens people up powerfully. Especially when we get it wrong, but we’ve tried. Kind of buzz. I stayed hidden. And what I became good at was intuitively sensing what others are hiding. Hidden, hiding buzz.
Have you ever been through a phase – perhaps in your twenties or early thirties - when you’ve met lots of lovely people, been with them for a while, but ultimately, you’re not quite right for each other? When you’re looking for love, you think you’re ready for love, and even though you know you’re not a bad person, you can’t find the love you’d love? Like trying to close your fist around running water. In the end, I gave up. And I hid. And I investigated the hidden. I brought languages and the hidden together and wrote a thesis about a very hidden part of the history of MI6 in Austria. It went down well. Very well. And I’ve recently been asked to write an article for the Intelligence and National Security Journal. Languages, the hidden, fizz. But 3 years ago, I realised I was too strange to find love, so I’d just enjoy my life alone. I loved skiing, so I thought I’d bring something nice to the lives of others – I’d organise a group skiing trip. How many people would want to go? I got emails from 22 people. And one of them was called Lisa.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
She didn’t write like the others. There was something strangely, powerfully warm about her. Something real, something honest. We swapped emails for a month. They became longer and longer. Then we met. She lived 3 doors away from me. And she was gorgeous. BBBBUUUZZZZZZ. And she seemed to like me just as much as I liked her. BBBBBBUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZ. And we went on a date. It was amazing. And I found out she was a leadership coach. And in the weeks that followed, as we walked along the beach in the evenings, I realised that her life was about bringing beautiful happiness to the lives of others. She helped people blossom. It wasn’t just a job, it was her life’s passion. When she spoke about it, her voice, face and energy were alive. I didn’t know human beings could be like this. She was more than a person, she helped people open up, blossom, truly bloom and expand into their truest, fullest beauty. She was more than a person. She was a beautiful honeybee. And she buzzed. And she really liked me. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
We’d been together about a month when one day, she told me she wanted to create something different in the world. She wanted to open up the energy of people. She wanted people to truly enjoy who they already are in a way that makes them better at what they do. Even the best coaching, she explained, can only go so far. The true, beautiful energy of people, she said, can transform lives if we open them up properly. Eh? Energy? What? Say that again. And she did. Buuuuuzzzzzz. So I left my job and helped her create the business to do this. And just last week, two more famous businesses asked us to transform the energy of some of their brightest people. Buzzy buzz buzz.
Beautiful Lisa is a unique honeybee. Everything she touches opens up and blossoms. She loves who people really are. She believes in them. She’s passionate about them. And once she’s settled on their leaves just for a tiny moment, they start to truly love their lives. They stop hiding. Their leaves open up. Their beautiful petals spread out and enjoy the sun. They grow. They sway, they invite other honeybees. And the flowers around them start opening up too. And the garden that they sit in smiles with eternal new beauty. She’s never there for long, but she just quickly pollinates everything she’s hovers over. Beautiful buzz.
Lisa, you have done this to me. You settled for a moment on my hidden leaves. Just for a moment. But you didn’t then fly away. You stayed. And with each blink of your beautiful life, my flower grows. Each blink. Each word. Each moment. Each giggle. You are the beauty of life itself. And I can’t believe you have chosen me. I am alive and living each moment. After a life of hiding, I have loved being turned into the brightest, happiest open flower. But now it’s time to move on. There are so many hidden flowers out there, waiting, but not yet daring to show their full beauty. And now, we are 2 honeybees that have seen them, flying side by side. Let's go. My beautiful honeybee, we've seen them. Let's go and unravel their beauty together. Wings touching. With you, my beautiful honeybee buzzing by my side around this garden of life, let's unlock beauty in this world. Thank you my darling Lisa, most beautiful honeybee, let’s love the flowers and buzz together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for wanting to marry me and enjoy this beautiful garden together. I love you, and now I love me. Merci. Danke. Spasseeba. Shukkuriyeh. BBBBUUUUZZZZZZ.
Jonathan.
