The Essence of Michael Willems

Analytical ~ Curious ~ Student

Traveller ~ Teacher ~ Thinker

Not really: a life is too complex and multidimensional to capture it all in a six-word narrative. But if I am pressed, perhaps I would use these words.

I was introduced to Michael by who else but the walking, talking personal Rolodex, Dan Bodanis. Who else?

As is usually the case, Dan has known Michael for years. Michael is a professional photographer and studio owner. This is one of those instances where I chose to highlight his work rather than mine. He owns a store and studio in the Ottawa area. Not only is Michael a great photographer, but he is one of the very few people whose images I have deferred to out of deference and respect, as a professional to another. All the creative images used are his.

Michael is also a spitting image of Michael Cain, the British actor, and has the same voice. In fact, the first time I spoke with him via Zoom, my wife overheard our conversation and asked me how I knew Mr. Cain. I didn’t tell her it wasn’t ;-)

Our man is an authority on all Adobe photo software and has saved me several times, including the time I thought I’d lost 1,500 images from an important photo shoot. He will always be my go-to guy for that. I’ve also found him to be a workaholic, very observant, and extremely capable on the technical front.

When Michael says he’s a traveller, believe him. He’s been to 55 countries. I will live vicariously through Michael in some of the dramatic places he has visited, as he still has this wanderlust. One other thing about Michael: he is a horophile and has 40+ in his collection. If you don’t know what that is, have fun finding out.

Once again, thank you, Dan Bodanis, for using your Rolodex to introduce me to one of the most thoughtful and cerebral people I know. Meet Michael.

Michael collects watches as well

Michael is a professional photographer

At some time, you reached a fork in the road. At that time, it didn’t feel like it, but looking back, you realize it was a big moment. One that changed your life. Describe yours.

I would have to say that my move at age 16 from the Netherlands to the UK was a seismic change, a decisive “crossroads” moment that shaped my life in so many ways. It gave me the benefits of an excellent English education and, at the same time, introduced me to the whole world: my small boarding school (which, in the odd terminology of the UK, was a "Public School”) was Hurtwood House, and although small, it had students from over 50 countries. I am still in touch with friends from that time. Students were not only from many countries; they were also from many different backgrounds. My roommates included Ali Hamad from Beirut, with his very own bullet wound, and His Royal Highness Tahnoon bin Zayed bin Shakhboot bin Sultan al-Nahyan from Abu Dhabi. And students like James from Australia, Lucie from Montréal, Mahmood from Iran… the list goes on. With these varied backgrounds came diverse ways of life, philosophies, and experiences. This directly led to my early career as a travelling commissioning engineer for the European multinational Philips. My international school background was incredibly useful for the volunteer work I did in “difficult countries” like Iraq, Libya, and Nigeria. It also helped me move around the world, including my move to Canada in 1995. 

What has been your biggest challenge, and how did you overcome it?

My own personality, and in particular the ADHD I was finally diagnosed with in 2007. ADHD is a very real neurodevelopmental disorder with very real effects — and it affects pretty much every aspect of my life. Watch TV? Sure, but only if I also have a web browser open and am answering emails at the same time. There needs to be a constant state of change. It means I live pretty much in the first derivative, if you want to use calculus to describe it - flux is life; no flux is not existing. “Panta Rhei”, as Heraclitus said: “everything is change”. This could have been my life motto.

It would have been very useful to be diagnosed at a much earlier stage, of course, because both medication and coping strategies are helpful, and knowing about them earlier would have changed things for the better. But more than anything, an earlier diagnosis would have helped me understand myself better.

 Still, in the absence of that diagnosis and without knowing why, I did, of course, steer my life in a direction that was good for ADHD. I have always had jobs that involved constant change and travel, for instance. I have had administrators work with me and for me, because I simply do not have the attention span to be an administrator. When I buy something, I will have misplaced the receipt before I even get home. So I have shaped my life around this and have always looked for opportunities to leverage my constantly shifting attention. I have had, and have, many hobbies, developed a wide range of skills, and, especially, benefited from a very wide range of human experience. 

Drive through the Sahara Desert in a Land Cruiser? Fly solo in a first airplane flight in Hong Kong and then solo across Florida? Witness air raids in Baghdad? Drive into the Kurdistan region of Iraq? Stand by the 3,000-year-old Lamassas at the city gates of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh? Visit 53 countries? Photograph a Canadian gold mine one kilometre underground? See Uluru and Alice Springs several times? Drive not just airplanes but also cars, trucks, motorcycles, and boats? Dive in the Great Barrier Reef? I have done all that and much, much more. At 66, I hope to have another decade or so to gain even more experiences, but even if I were to die today, I can’t say that any of my life has been bereft of experience or wasted.

What is one gem you learned on your journey that you would love to share? Alternatively, what hint would you give a younger version of yourself? 

This ancient Persian wisdom: "This, too, shall pass”. 

Incredibly dramatic lighting