WILDLY GENTLE
Books, words and artwork about being human.
Life, work, relationships, parenthood, overthinking, pressure and everything we pretend we've got figured out. Wildly Gentle is a collection of writing, books, artwork and ideas created by Andrew Murphy about the messy, funny, difficult and meaningful business of being human.
Things worth thinking about.
Most of us spend a lot of time pretending we’re more certain than we are.
We overthink things we can’t control. We stay too long in situations that make us unhappy. We work harder when what we probably need is rest. We tell people we’re fine because explaining the truth feels like too much effort. We confuse being busy with moving forward and sometimes spend years trying to solve problems that were never really ours to solve.
I write about those things.
Not because I’ve figured them out, but because I’m interested in the gap between how life looks from the outside and how it actually feels when you’re living it.
That might mean writing about overthinking, relationships, fatherhood, pressure, work, leadership, wellbeing, bad habits, difficult conversations or the strange ways people try to make sense of themselves and each other.
Some of those ideas become books. Some become artwork. Some remain articles. The format matters less than the feeling behind them.
If something here makes you stop and think, “I’ve felt that,” then it has probably done what I wanted it to do.
That’s really what Wildly Gentle is about.
The human side of work
Work is rarely difficult just because of systems, policies or paperwork. More often, it becomes difficult because of people — pressure, poor communication, weak leadership, unclear standards, silence, ego, fear, habits and the things no one says out loud.
I’m interested in that side of work. The side that sits underneath the procedures. The side that shapes culture long before anyone writes it down.
That includes leadership, psychological safety, wellbeing, behaviour, standards and the everyday choices that quietly teach people what matters.
Leadership
Leadership is not what people say in strategy documents. It is what they tolerate, what they challenge, what they ignore and the standards they live by when pressure shows up.
Psychological Safety & Wellbeing
People do better work when they feel able to speak honestly, ask questions, admit uncertainty and say when something is not right. That is where wellbeing, trust and safer workplaces begin.
Because the hardest problems at work rarely start on paper. They start in people.
Culture
Culture is built in ordinary moments — in how people are spoken to, what gets brushed aside, who feels heard and what behaviour quietly becomes normal.
I'm Andrew Murphy — a writer, author, artist and someone who has spent a large part of his working life trying to understand why people and organisations behave the way they do.
My professional background is in construction, health and safety, leadership and operational management. Outside of that I've always written, drawn, questioned things and probably thought about life considerably more than is useful.
Wildly Gentle grew from those two worlds colliding.
I write about overthinking, relationships, parenthood, pressure, wellbeing, work, leadership and the things people experience but don't always know how to explain. Sometimes those ideas become books.
Sometimes articles. Sometimes artwork. Sometimes practical tools for people and workplaces.
There isn't a grand philosophy behind it. Mostly I am interested in creating things that make somebody stop for a second and think: "I've felt that."
Say hello — questions about the books, artwork, writing, collaborations or professional work are all welcome.