The library

Community libraries are necessary resources for start-ups and other small businesses.  This seems obvious - or does it?

Stephenson Library in Marinette, WI

I have been working at our public library for about a 1/2 of a day every 2 weeks or so.  This gets me out of my office - which is in my home - and into a new environment for a few hours.  I seem to get a fresh perspective on the projects that I am working on just by the change of venue.
But that's not all the library has done for me.  I can search an online "card" catalog  that includes a large number of libraries through-out the state of Wisconsin.  I can request books that I am interesting in and they arrive at my local library when they become available.  I can review the books and if it's a great resource, I can purchase my own copy.  If it only has a few tidbits of good stuff, I can take some notes and return the book.

Our library has meeting rooms that I can reserve for meeting clients or to gather a group of collaborative partners for a problem solving session.  

All of these services are accessible to all of us - no one is turned away!

It's convenient to have so much data available to us through our home or office computers or other devices, but let's face it - getting up from our desks, interacting with other people and finding different ways to access information is energizing.

Your legacy

Granny Sue at the christening
of the USS Kinzer Nov 1944.

On November 1, 1944, the USS Kinzer was christened by my great-grandmother, "Granny Sue".  This destroyer escort vessel was named in honor of my great-uncle - Ensign Edward Blaine Kinzer, US Navy. Uncle Blaine was killed during the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 8, 1942 and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

Uncle Blaine's bravery and sacrifice are a matter of great pride for our family and his memory lived on through this ship's service to the US Navy.

These old pictures have gotten me thinking.  Most of us will never have this kind of legacy - it is not the kind of legacy we would seek or wish for. But our legacies don't need to be this dramatic. We can leave our mark in many other ways - through our friends and families, the work that we do and the acts that we perform for the benefit of others.

Ensign Kinzer

Most of us don't think about our legacies. If we do, we are uncomfortable with the idea because it feels arrogant and presumptuous.  The beauty of dreaming about our legacy is that we don't have to tell anyone else about it!  Instead, we can just start living in a way that moves us closer to our vision.  I'm not going to tell you the vision that I have for my legacy but if do it right - who knows you might be able to figure it out!