Heather turned to me and asked, “Do you want to send it?”

Heather once worked in a large business unit I led at the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We lost track of one another about 20 years ago. We reconnected by chance last summer. Heather is now a writer, editor, and a photographer. I hired her to edit two book manuscripts.  On May 28, 2013, we were sitting at my dining room table ready to upload  Learning to Live: Essays on Life and Leadership for publication as an e-book at Amazon.com. Heather not only edited the manuscript, she also designed the cover, wrote an introduction, and formatted the text. I call this a legacy book: it is a way for me to save and leave behind a time of my life filled with adventures and peak experiences.

For the past 20 years, I’ve used my life as my own learning laboratory filled with study, intensity, and constant reflective learning all necessary to compose a life of my own. My art was not only the book I was about to publish but the intentional living that the book expresses. Every life is one of creative potential and we should put as much passion into designing our lives as painters, sculptors, writers, and artisans famous and obscure do with their creations.

I asked my wife Melanie to come to the room. “We are ready,” I said nervously. “I want you to give the command.” Melanie clicked the computer mouse and the manuscript uploaded flawlessly. A few hours later my book was ready to meet the world.

Welcome to “Tom’s Thoughts.”

Twenty years ago after much work, I wrote a purpose statement for my life: To live a life of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual adventures and to share what I learn with others. I will use this blog to offer my thoughts about life and leadership.

I invite you to engage with me.