Not intended to be blasphemous, however, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased”. It is a privilege to be his Father, and to humbly admire the Man he is becoming. Love Dad
“As I write, I'm continually unearthing my values. What I stand for. This makes the direction is hard to predict. But the truth is in the unfolding, the surprise.”
Tommy, my Saturday mornings, and more importantly, my life, is more meaningful with your unfolding and surprise in it. 🙏
Thank you James. I've been thinking of surprise a lot these days, in tandem with the continual threshold crossings of life, being continually on the frontier.
Appreciate your support for my work & the kind words. The love and generosity you share always help fuel my tank.
"A careful, well-placed word has enough leverage to move the world."
Ever since I discovered your writing, it has profoundly changed my life for the better. Every word is imbued with intentionality and awareness, purposefully placed to evoke transformative feelings, and inspiring deep thought and introspection.
I am so grateful to have found your work and cannot wait to continue following along your journey—thank you for your incredible words.
Thank you Srinidhi, for being here and your incredibly kind words. I'm so glad you've found something of a home in my work and it's made a positive impact. That's really why I began writing and what I return to in low points.
So many thoughtful excerpts on creating a more aligned, fulfilled, and committed life. There are too many quotes to capture. I’m a recent follower, so I have bookmarked this collection, so I can come back to it whenever I’m able to carve out silence for reflection.
I deeply appreciate your writing and how you share your ideas with the world. 🙏🏻
Thank you Cheyanne, I appreciate you reading & your warm words here. I'm glad it resonated. If there's any way I can be of service, don't hesitate to let me know.
Love this reflection, thank you, have enjoyed your essays immensely. I especially relate to ‘stand in the first-person muck, instead of clambering up to the pulpit to deliver second-person sermons’. This is one of my aims too. All the best for 2025!
Thank you Jenny! Really appreciate you reading & the kind words. Writing in the first person was a huge paradigm shift for me in 2023, both in finding my voice and creating resonant writing, but it's still so hard.
“I can be contacted by driving around the Kawartha Lakes and calling my name, or else Substack messages and email work too.”
I feel like real laughs - Like truly genuine ones, not the ones you have when other people are around you, where sometimes you laugh because everyone else is doing it (not that there’s anything wrong with that, because laughing with other people is a ton of fun, even if you don’t always totally get it), but rather, the laughs you have where it’s just you in a room and you come across something that makes you cackle because it aligns with your own individual sense of humor without any outside “duress”. Now those laughs, are really special :) The quote above, gave me one of those genuine laughs. Cheers Tommy!
Haha Merry Christmas Charlie! Always brings a smile to my face to see your name here.
The post-Christmas blues are pretty blue, but we're getting through them. I tried to make a list of things to look forward to in the next few months. It sorta worked.
I thought I escaped them but they're here for me as well. Once the Christmas tree is out of the house, tomorrow, I think I'll do better. For now, I'll write about it, like I do every year lol.
Thank you Lakshmi (: appreciate you reading & being here. "Guiding light" hits home for who I aspire to be as a writer, despite all my flaws and inadequacies.
Not intended to be blasphemous, however, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased”. It is a privilege to be his Father, and to humbly admire the Man he is becoming. Love Dad
Thanks Dad (:
“As I write, I'm continually unearthing my values. What I stand for. This makes the direction is hard to predict. But the truth is in the unfolding, the surprise.”
Tommy, my Saturday mornings, and more importantly, my life, is more meaningful with your unfolding and surprise in it. 🙏
Thank you James. I've been thinking of surprise a lot these days, in tandem with the continual threshold crossings of life, being continually on the frontier.
Appreciate your support for my work & the kind words. The love and generosity you share always help fuel my tank.
"A careful, well-placed word has enough leverage to move the world."
Ever since I discovered your writing, it has profoundly changed my life for the better. Every word is imbued with intentionality and awareness, purposefully placed to evoke transformative feelings, and inspiring deep thought and introspection.
I am so grateful to have found your work and cannot wait to continue following along your journey—thank you for your incredible words.
Thank you Srinidhi, for being here and your incredibly kind words. I'm so glad you've found something of a home in my work and it's made a positive impact. That's really why I began writing and what I return to in low points.
Appreciate you (:
Tommy, loved all your writing this year. Thanks for sharing and being vulnerable.
Thank you J, for all your support and constancy. Always appreciate your presence here.
So many thoughtful excerpts on creating a more aligned, fulfilled, and committed life. There are too many quotes to capture. I’m a recent follower, so I have bookmarked this collection, so I can come back to it whenever I’m able to carve out silence for reflection.
I deeply appreciate your writing and how you share your ideas with the world. 🙏🏻
Thank you Cheyanne, I appreciate you reading & your warm words here. I'm glad it resonated. If there's any way I can be of service, don't hesitate to let me know.
Love this reflection, thank you, have enjoyed your essays immensely. I especially relate to ‘stand in the first-person muck, instead of clambering up to the pulpit to deliver second-person sermons’. This is one of my aims too. All the best for 2025!
Thank you Jenny! Really appreciate you reading & the kind words. Writing in the first person was a huge paradigm shift for me in 2023, both in finding my voice and creating resonant writing, but it's still so hard.
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on religion!
“I can be contacted by driving around the Kawartha Lakes and calling my name, or else Substack messages and email work too.”
I feel like real laughs - Like truly genuine ones, not the ones you have when other people are around you, where sometimes you laugh because everyone else is doing it (not that there’s anything wrong with that, because laughing with other people is a ton of fun, even if you don’t always totally get it), but rather, the laughs you have where it’s just you in a room and you come across something that makes you cackle because it aligns with your own individual sense of humor without any outside “duress”. Now those laughs, are really special :) The quote above, gave me one of those genuine laughs. Cheers Tommy!
Haha I loved this Rocky. Such a good way to describe real, full-bodied laughter.
Thank you for being here man and all the support for my work. Really means a lot.
I hope you're having a lovely end to your year.
An incredible year of writing and, from what I can tell, personal growth. Proud of you man.
Thank you Alex, your support means a lot my friend.
Merry Christmas, Tommy! (Hopefully the post-Christmas blues don’t hit us too hard this year.)
Can’t wait for your book. :)
Haha Merry Christmas Charlie! Always brings a smile to my face to see your name here.
The post-Christmas blues are pretty blue, but we're getting through them. I tried to make a list of things to look forward to in the next few months. It sorta worked.
I thought I escaped them but they're here for me as well. Once the Christmas tree is out of the house, tomorrow, I think I'll do better. For now, I'll write about it, like I do every year lol.
Your writing is a guiding light! What a joy, Tommy.
Thank you Lakshmi (: appreciate you reading & being here. "Guiding light" hits home for who I aspire to be as a writer, despite all my flaws and inadequacies.
you’re incredible, tommy.
Thank you Imaan (: appreciate you being here
One of my favorite "year end" roundups I've read so far.
Appreciate your writing Tommy, keep it up!
Thank you Brian (: appreciate you reading & the kind words here