O Captain my Captain

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

                         But O heart! heart! heart!

                            O the bleeding drops of red,

                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

The poem penned by Walt Whitman, so many years ago in 1865 rings true today as we bid farewell to a great man, my Captain, Colin Hall.

He is a Legend amongst legends, a man who has surely run his race to the fullest and come out on top to stand tall with the greats of this country.

I could write on and on about the stories that I have listened to, heard from others, and witnessed during my cherished times with Colin.

I first met Colin as the powerful, fearful Boss, face to face back in 1989 at Wooltru as I wheeled an overhead projector into the 6th-floor boardroom to set up a presentation for Micheal Marks to the Wooltru board.

Then I met the real Colin later at the Leaders retreat at Mount Fleur, as did so many others. Here we got to see the heart of the man we all feared as Chairman of Wooltru. A man who cared deeply about people and our energy.

Over the many years since, I have had the privilege of working with Colin on his videos, blogs and websites, but nothing has been better than the many cups of cappuccino (made with love) that we have shared under the trees at Newlands Picnic Café. Here we got to unpack life, knock on the doors of undiscovered ideas and flesh out new concepts to change the world.

Colin is a defining moment in my life. A lot of who I have become is due to his coaching words of wisdom and the all-embracing hug. He pushed me into new ideas and new ways of thinking, and we together have unearthed many concepts that now sit on my bookshelf as published works that touch new lives in many ways.

O Captain, my Captain – You will be sorely missed, our time together was precious beyond words. My heart longs for your company and another coffee chat. But your legacy lives on in the hearts of so many thousands you touched and live influenced. The colour blue will shine bright and strong through our lives because we got to meet you.

Rest well, my Captain. Until we meet again.