Christie Murphy (Ireland), worked in dozens of startups. And with that he’s been through incredible ups and downs. Today he is well-acquainted with the difficulty of standing still while everything around you is on fire. Having lived in London for a long time he now relocated to start a life based on his own terms. What staggered us hence, is the peacefulness this man radiates – despite being in such a potentially nerve-wracking phase of starting up his own business. Curious? Well, here’s his story. 

The Arc: Christie. Before we start, who the hell are you? ^^

Christie: Whoa. Tough question. I’ve taken on some challenges others would consider kind of crazy… They’re always purpose driven… usually intensely physical or spiritual in nature. Hmmm, so, here’s my first stab at it.

One day a few years back I felt completely lost. I had a job that was solid, doing something I felt was good. But my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t want to be close to people and felt I was losing touch.

So, following a teaching, I spent a few weeks meditating on what was next, what was my purpose. Holding this question for an hour every morning before going to work is no joke! But eventually, I had the clear impulse to walk to one of my heroes, following his example. It took me several months to work up the courage, but eventually I quit my job, left home.

I couldn’t keep telling kids to follow their heart and intuition day in, day out as a teacher and not follow my own.

So I got up and did it. I walked a pilgrimage through the South of England for Soil, Soil and Society to meet Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College. It took 33 days of walking alone, sleeping on benches, with the rules that I could not use a map or any money, I realised the world will open up for you if you’re committed to your hearts cause, and that we’re capable of almost anything that little voice deep down asks of us when we wait patiently for it.

So, milestones… I guess it’s safe to say I’ve been breaking through one wall at a time ever since that walk.

The Arc: Bam! Respect. This is an incredible journey. So what has it led to? What are you building these days?

Christie: I’m creating a company which serves men to get over themselves, basically, to transcend self-concern into fearless living.

Over the years I’ve worked in many different fields with a ton of artists, entrepreneurs and athletes. The thing is, so many of them, including myself, have suffered or still suffer from depression, hyper-tension. Due to a need to compete. They just generally suck at being vulnerable, being disciplined about living a purpose which is meaningful to them, leading themselves and their partners, you know, genuinely showing up in intimacy.

Mostly because they don’t know how, or because they’re afraid. I think it’s women’s time now, and that’s great, it’s amazing, but men also need to step up and go deeper, throw out the old game plan and make a new identity for ourselves which has integrity.

My story has lost of winds and turns, childhood trauma all that. Owning up to my own failures and mistakes: such as starting companies that failed, being in startups that blew up, jumping from relationship to relationship, from achievement to achievement – I realised through quite a lot of pain that growth, depth and openness were the only things that fundamentally changed anything in my life for the better.

So I started working on myself, making time to listen to a purpose, guiding and advising my friends, (having made these same mistakes for years), and eventually traction started to build. Now I’m looking to deepen that work and offer it to others.

The Arc: When doing this – what has been your biggest struggle?

Christie: Asking for money for people for myself, and realising that I need to free myself to focus on that which I’m over-powered in, such as speaking to a crowd, leading workshops, asking and answering questions of practice, strategy and meaning.

I suck at figures and facts. Numbers for me are dry, dull things that don’t have any smell. I need a rush of blood, you know? A challenge which almost promises death of danger – in a social sense – You know, like exposing yourself to rejection or failure in a public: reading my poetry out loud, or taking a group of men into the street to meditate, or give women a compliment and a rose and then leave them alone without saying anything, talking about what’s true and dark or what we aspire to create. That heart-on-the-line kinda action, that’s were I get my kicks.

The Arc: Woah! Intense! Woah! You know – again one of these things that sound easy in practice and are still the hardest thing to do. So… now we are curious? What gives you strength in steering through that incredible emotional rollercoaster?

Christie: Meditation. Courage. Training. Praying. Persistence. Passion. Allies. Ah, and the support and divine wrath of one incredible woman.

The Arc: Haha. Wonderful. Loving the precision of your answer. So you found courage through hard work. What kind of advice can you give others with a similar challenge?

Christie: Go deeper before you try to hack your way through things. Often taking the pain upfront leads flow and ease to follow. Presence is purpose. The more you are able to be present, to source yourself in your values and intuition, the greater you capacities in other areas of your life will be.

The Arc: So for you – what was the biggest thing you got out of The Arc?

Christie: PURPOSE! And freedom. I love Astrid (The Arc: For the ones who don’t know – this is the funky Founder of The Arc). She embodies all the hard and soft qualities that I call authenticity.

The Arc: Hahahhahaa. Ok, another moment for Astrid to blush while she is reading this. She sucks at accepting compliments, so… we’ll have fun presenting this to her. Hey – last but not least: Who do YOU dare to be and which IMPACT do you wanna stand for?

Christie: A gearless gift – realising our transcendence from the pain of self-concern to the bliss of fearless gifting. Wild. I know. You’re welcome.

Just a few last things:
The county you’d like to appear on the testimonial Germany
How you wanna be described on the testimonial Teacher, Writer, Coach.
Your testimonial The Arc is a driven, no-nonsense outfit led by a woman with crazy charisma. Astrid revels in her weaknesses and shows just how powerful we can be when we admit who we are, take full responsibility for our purpose (no matter how painful) and show up with everything we’ve got.

Go along – if you’re serious – you’ll find yourself challenged, inspired and HUNGRY to realise your purpose.