A Wealth of Experience – Insights into Wealth, Religion, Spirit and Ethics
Jock Wheeldon’s site with a biography and description of the Wealth of Experience book project
My name is Jock Wheeldon. If you are reading this I have probably asked you for help or an interview for the book I am writing which will largely be made up of the insights and experiences of people like you, and people unlike you, from all over the world. Firstly, here is some information about the book and interviews, followed by some background about myself:
Book Aims
This book aims to show how people deal with wealth – or a lack of it – as they go through their lives, based on their values, be they religious or ethical. From the dawn of awareness in childhood through to later life everyone faces choices. Some choices are determined based on values, some on experience, and some through circumstance. How to live and make your decisions gel with your values is hard for everyone. Hopefully this book will help people who are still working out their values with some food for thought.
The book aims to reach as many people as possible and communicate the way people have dealt with the challenges we all have to face, whether you be in Texas, Tehran, or Timbuktu. If the book can help people gain perspective on their lives, think of a different way to approach things, or empathise with people in a different situation to themselves, it will have been a success in my eyes.
The book will also serve as an historical document for future generations of views on these subjects in the modern world, and be a resource for people across cultures.
Hopefully seeing how others deal with the same issues, albeit in a different way, will promote tolerance. It will be edited with respect for the contributors’ good intentions in sharing their experiences. There will be no villains of this book, the aim is to help, inspire, and stimulate people, not sensationalise the topic.
A percentage of any profits from this book will be used to distribute the book to schools and libraries free of charge.
Interviews
Interviews will generally be conducted either in person or by phone where practicable. Generally they take approximately 45 minutes. If you’ve got a lot to say they can take longer, and I’m very happy to listen.
If you do not want something you have said used, you can advise me and I will not use that part of the interview. I want to conduct the interviews in the spirit of the book which is of tolerance rather than sensationalism.
Some people who I’ve approached for interviews have felt unqualified to contribute, but I don’t think that this is ever the case. This is going to be a book about what all kinds of people think and how their experiences have shaped their thoughts, not just outwardly religious or famous people.
Some people interviewed to date
So far I have spoken to clerks, academics, casual workers, architects, religious leaders, scientists, media personalities, artists and entertainers. Some of these, in no particular order, include:
Cola Bilkuei – Former child soldier from the Sudan
‘Fabio’ Lanzoni – Male fashion model and media personality
Kulavadhuta Satpurananda – (‘Mad Father’), the last remaining holder of the ancient secret oral tradition of the Great Indian Lineage of Buddhist Tantra
Dinesh Dhamija – Founder of ‘ebookers’, European Internet Travel Booking company
Matt Henderson – Plumber, Sydney Water
Rabbi Meyer H May – Executive Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance
Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali – Imam of the Lakemba Mosque
Noam Chomsky – Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics, MIT
Tim Fischer – Deputy Prime Minister of Australia 1996-99, Chair of Tourism Australia
Dr Tim Flannery – Director of the South Australian Museum, best-selling non-fiction author of ‘The Future-eaters’ and ‘The Weather Makers’
Dr Jill Tarter – Bernard M Oliver Chair for SETI research
Robert Fisk – Middle East correspondent for the Independent newspaper (UK)
Professor Mick Dodson – Head of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at the ANU, Canberra
Gerald O’Collins – Jesuit Theologian and author
Bill Mollison – Permaculture pioneer
Dr Malcolm Simons- Immunologist and patenter of ‘Junk DNA’ processes
Marina Abramovic – Performance artist
Everyone I have interviewed, not just the more prominent people, have made meaningful valid comments representing their experience, and they are all valued.
Audience
The book will be aimed at people from all around the world. Whether people are young or old, rich or poor, religious or atheist, black, white or something in between, hopefully there will be something in it for them. Especially people who are struggling with how to deal with wealth in the west should get something out of it, and at the least will get some different perspectives.
However, people who just want to have an interesting read or who are interested in one of the contributors will also read the book. For this reason each contributor will probably be read by many people who are unfamiliar with them at all.
From my interviews so far I have found that everyone has their own take on these issues, and anyone who has an interest in the lives of others and what drives them should enjoy it.
Book Structure
The book will be structured with a collection of quotes, anecdotes and observations of different interviewees by theme with excerpts of general background as relevant, outlining relevant facts and providing a narrative flow.
For example, in one chapter on a particular theme you would find a quote from an American shopkeeper, followed by a story from an Italian scientist, an observation from a shepherd from Argentina, an observation from a religious leader, and so on. A reference number would follow each quote to help you track the author of the quote by going to the back of the book to look it up.
By mixing up the different interviews by topic, readers can engage with what is written without having a pre-conceived ideas that they only want to read certain people, but if want to do that it is okay they can by using the index. Hopefully this will help readers to get a glimpse of other people’s worlds.
About me
I live in Sydney, which is quite an expensive city and I am not financially wealthy myself (although a lot better off than many). I’ve struggled with how to maintain a balance between my values and the realities of living in today’s world. Every interview I have conducted so far has been a learning experience for me, and I hope this will also be the case for future readers. I believe that everyone, no matter their training or status, has something valuable to add to the dialogue.
In 2005 I graduated with a Master of Arts with merit in Studies in Religion from the University of Sydney, Australia. This was a Comparative Religions degree where I studied aspects of the major western and eastern religions such as theology, history, psychology and politics. In addition I studied aspects of secular religion. Prior to that I completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy and Comparative Religion at the Australian National University, Canberra. I’ve been working on this book for over ten years, and now have a lot less hair than when I started, life’s got in the way, but now seems like an ideal time to finish it off.
I grew up near Wentworth, in rural Australia near Broken Hill. I have worked as a fruit-picker, barman, offsider on a drilling rig in Western Australia, labourer, pub cook, storeman, call-centre operator, pen salesman and tour guide. I’ve also worked in many other miscellaneous jobs such as my father’s wool-buying, hardware and second-hand furniture business from when my father first said to me at the age of four, ‘Look after the shop, I’ll back in five minutes.’
I currently work at the University of Sydney in an administrative role but hope one day to be a full-time writer.
Verifying my credentials
If you would like any personal references please contact me and I’m sure I can find a suitable referee.
If you would like to verify my academic qualifications please contact
The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia – to verify my Bachelor of Arts degree, student number 9206305, or
The University of Sydney, Australia – to verify my Master of Arts degree, student number 200059444
I have not put web links to this site as it is for the eyes of those who I wish to interview rather than the public at this stage.
Contact
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at jock_wheeldon@optusnet.com.au
My postal address is PO Box 95, Erskineville, NSW, 2043
If all goes to plan, I hope to get the book published in 2017.
Progress
I’ve got about 70 interviews so far, a plan, and first three chapters structured. In the next six months I’m going to try and get an agent and publisher, have finished it with some late interviews to try and get a bit more of a mix of people, and the all important excerpts of interesting information to give the interviews some context and to help the material flow.
After a lot of feedback from friends and colleagues I have settled on a book structure that holds together, is easy to read, and flows. This has not been easy and involved a few disappointments on the way, but all of the feedback I have received has helped create a something I am happy with.
I have tried to work out some good groups of people, and individuals, to interview in this last stage to give the finished book a good mix of cultures, races, and occupations. Any suggestions would be welcome. I have been spending a lot of time getting together letters of approach to potential interviewees, and gathering together supplementary information to tie everything together. I am not sure that I always get the approach right, or that some of them get through to the people they are addressed to, but luckily a lot of people like my concept and have been generous with their time.
Regards,
Jock
copyright Jock Wheeldon 2006