Thomas J. West Music

Starting something new is always a challenge. Recently, one of my new projects has hit a major snag. It's a snag big enough that the project needs major revision and will not be the same on the other end. That is disheartening, but I'm old enough now to know that these things happen for a reason and that the end product will be what it is supposed to be, even if it means operating on a different timeline an...

In honor of the recent release of the final motion picture in the Harry Potter series, and in light of the fact that I just read this quote to my youngest son as he and I read through the first book in the series together, I offer the following quote from Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore:

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic far beyond all we do here! And now, bedt...

Today's quote came my way via this article. He makes many good points that I totally agree with, and the quote at the end of the article sums it up nicely:

A leader is someone who is willing to own not just the result, but the process.

Today, I attended my school's commencement ceremonies. Our keynote speaker referred to this quote in Latin, which is the motto of the Liverpool Institute, the school where Paul McCartney and George Harrison spent their youth:

Non Nobis Solum Sed Toti Mundo Nati

Which translated into English means "Not for ourselves, but for the whole world were we bo...

Today's quote comes from one of the great leaders of the 20th century:

"The most imporant thing about education is appetite," -- Winston Churchill

How many times in our life are we "required to do something" by others? From an early age, we have people telling us what to do, how to th...

This popular quote is not contributed to a specific author, but it is appropos for many occasions, including teaching:

"Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

In preparing for a major event with mutiple details that must be coordinated, there is always a period of org...

This quote was collected from a friend on Facebook:

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -- attributed to Howard Thurman

About a year ago, a well-intentioned friend of...

I often share a

I'm about halfway through reading Seth Godin's latest book, Poke the Box. It is, of course, filled with Godinny goodness, but one thing I just read this morning is a really great point that I wanted to share.

On page 41, Godin states: "If you had a chance to do a TED talk, wh...

Natalie Goldberg is a published author and self-help clinician. Her quote today fits the bill:

Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that ev...