In times of darkness, don’t descend into fear and anger, but rather step into the light. Light often leads the way to better solutions, even for the worst of problems.
As part of our series about Authors Making an Important Social Impact. I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Equels.
Thomas Equels, MS, JD, is a distinguished figure known for his multifaceted career encompassing military service, legal expertise, and equine achievements, including his authorship of The Horseman’s Tale. A combat-wounded Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart, Equels is also a seasoned Thoroughbred and Paso Fino breeder and trainer. His work in civil rights and social justice is well-regarded, and he currently leads Aim Immunotech Inc. His experiences and insights bring a unique depth to his writing. The Horseman’s Tale is his debut novel.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Most of the professional accomplishments in my life have evolved for the same reason that brought me to write The Horseman’s Tale. I strive to make a difference, especially when it comes to creating a teaching opportunity related to the virtues I think are key to a just society: Love, Compassion, Courage, Acceptance and Forgiveness. My novel is a creative way to express and explain those aspects of life and living
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
I first read Hermann Hesse’s ‘Siddhartha’ when I was in Vietnam. I read it several times in 1972, during the war, and in time it changed the way I see the world and my place in it. These same themes populate the ‘arch’ of my novel The Horseman’s Tale.
In 2004, I created a painting that I call Free Your Mind, where I memorialized, pictorially, a key lesson of Siddhartha.
After accommodating the message of Siddhartha, I realized that my path to spiritual development had to be consciously cultivated, just like education and research enrich the mind, and exercise and sports enrich the body, I needed to cultivate my spiritual growth as well. I live in a society where we were taught to reject most things of the spirit, except for the dogma of others. We were taught to be, first and foremost, rational, i.e. ruled by the mind. For me, Siddhartha was about opening of the door to enlightenment through living, seeking out experiences, and learning the spiritual lessons that flowed from this life’s experiences. When we do not seek our own truth, our own destiny, then we cannot find our personal path in life. I believe each of us has one. The way to enlightenment that is uniquely and personally yours, is your personal responsibility. If you can learn the lessons of your soul’s journey, in the end there is peace, fulfillment, holiness and enlightenment.
The Horseman’s Tale is one man’s journey, as he traverses one dark night of the soul, to find the light. In telling the Horseman’s Tale, I must thank Hermann Hesse for his inspiration, it has lasted a lifetime.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Many many years ago I had a girlfriend. Because I was blessed with a very strong intellect, I assumed, and acted, as if my assumption of superior intelligence applied to her. Such is the arrogance of youth. In time, I realized she was the smarter one, a fact well camouflaged by the mid-century/traditional and stereotypical roles we unwittingly played. It was an acerbically funny mistake.. From that experience, I learned that when we misjudge others, we can lose out. The old saying of ‘Don’t judge a book only by its cover, tells us to read the book, get under the skin of the characters, savor the story, get the drift of the plot. In life, as with books, if we misjudge or don’t take the time to go deep, we miss precious relationships and life lessons. We lose out on experiencing beautiful moments, opportunities that are gone forever.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
When I was young, in the 1950s-1970s, racism, sexism, anti-semitism and all kinds of equally backward discriminatory behaviors were the norm. We lived in an American Apartheid in a legally segregated and brutally enforced society in many parts of our country. I see today, every day, politicians promoting racism, anti-semitism, sexism, gay bashing….all trying to draw us back to those dark days. The Horseman’s Tale paints a picture of what it was like then. We cannot go backwards. We need to step forward. Our culture is ripe for a revolution of the spirit. The door is open to enlightenment. My novel, through its story, is emotional, sexy, violent and reflective of lessons of love, respect, acceptance and forgiveness learned through those experiences. Each of us has a tremendous power, the power to kickstart a spiritual revolution and change the world. Each of us, in our own unique ways, can make a difference. This path forward has been on my mind, and my agenda, for many years now. I painted “The Way” in the mid-1990s to address important virtues drawn from my life experiences. Those same themes are woven into the novel. The Way hangs in the Cathedral of Saint James in Orlando.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I started my adult life as a warrior. The war in Vietnam left me with a burning desire to make a difference. Upon my return from the war, I resolved to fight for social justice and a better society in whatever small way possible. Initially, my efforts were hampered by my attitude. I fought, but with an underlying simmering anger. In time, I learned that to be truly successful, such things must be done with love.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
- Think not of your self interests but of the interests of the country and the people you are elected to serve.
- Subordinate personal greed, lust for power and fame. And,
- Serve as if your life depends upon it.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
When I was 18, in 1970, I was immersed in U.S. Army training as a warrant officer pilot candidate. A part of that training was in the art of leadership. I learned that a leader must provide simple and direct solutions to even the most difficult and complex problems. I learned to have confidence not only in my training and any helpful opportunities available, but also in my talents. It is hard to lead if you do not believe in yourself. I learned to do what must be done with all the honor and integrity I could muster. I learned to lead by in fact taking the lead, so when I say, “Follow me”, they are going where I go first. These are things all young people should have a chance to learn.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. In times of darkness, don’t descend into fear and anger, but rather step into the light. Light often leads the way to better solutions, even for the worst of problems.
Sometimes I learn lessons through music. In this case, it was the Beatles singing ‘Let It Be’:
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be …………………..
And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me
Shinin’ until tomorrow, let it be
2 . Let love and compassion be a part of decision making.
Decisions made based only on money or power are made without considering all the factors, especially those supplied by the better angels of our nature.
3 . Spend less time finding fault and more time finding solutions.
I spent decades as a lawyer and served as lead in many big cases and projects. In one such complex litigation matter, we had a big problem, involving a team with multiple law firms, and a friend quipped that leading lawyers is like herding cats. I laughed but it was like a bell went off in my head. Lawyers are trained to find fault and our wheels were spinning on a time sensitive solution because team members were playing the blame game. As soon as I made it crystal clear that we would no longer discuss blame, only solutions, we were back on the right track.
4 . If you can, make an effort to turn enemies into friends. You both will benefit.
I cannot say I have ever been clearly successful at this. Two times, opponents in hard fought legal battles became friendly, after the fact. In each case I reached out to them, extending a helping hand in time of need after the battle was over. I still try. I try because I think it is the right thing to do.
5 . Spend time every day in prayer.
Many moons ago I heard this quote regarding prayer by Abe Lincoln:
“I have been driven many times upon my knees (in prayer) by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
President Lincoln was a man I deeply respect. So I too, when lost, or overwhelmed, or confronted by disaster, turned to prayer. For me prayer is a very private thing, a conversation stepping into the divine. In time, prayer has become a part of my daily life and I feel that it has been spiritually enriching. I did a painting on this topic. It hangs at St. Augustine Church and University of Miami Catholic Student Center. It is called ‘Our Father’ and it is about prayer… my response when asked by some students at the church about the meaning of the painting was “pray daily and live richly”.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
As a people we must learn to have faith. You don’t just ‘have’ faith. Faith must be taught and it must be learned.
After Vietnam, as a military instrument flight instructor pilot, I learned to teach students to fly in the clouds by teaching them to have faith, not in their feeling of what the aircraft was doing, but rather in the aircraft’s flight instruments. To show them the way, I had to teach them to have faith in their instruments, not their feelings. In the clouds you have no visual references and vertigo comes easily. The fluid and sensors of the inner ear’s equilibrium mechanism are untethered without the control of visual cues. I brought a spinnable bar stool to our flight briefing room and did a class for all the students in our flight, not just my own. I placed a student, if possible one I knew the other students held in high esteem, on the barstool. I blindfolded him (this was before we had female students) and I instructed him to say what he was feeling as he felt it. Then I gently sent him spinning to the left. The student pilot said “I am turning left” long after the bar stool had clearly stopped. Then, after a few seconds, he went on to say “ I am turning right” even though the bar stool was completely stopped. The message of ‘ in the clouds do not believe and fly based on what you feel, but rather have faith in your instruments and fly by your instruments’ only works if you have faith in those instruments. I hope to teach through my art, my paintings, my novel, that we can have faith in the set of virtues I call ‘The Way’. .
The message in this novel is one I have, through my art and my pro bono legal service, long advocated. My painting ‘The Way’ that I did in the mid 1990s and that is at the Cathedral of Saint James in Orlando, presents virtues that are tools for living. Much like the flight instruments you can rely on when flying blind in bad weather, these virtues are tools you can rely on to get you through bad times.
My novel, The Horseman’s Tale, is yet another way of teaching the same lessons. While I cannot say I am a ‘person of enormous influence’ I can say that I am a teacher. I think this lesson of faith addresses a need that people are desperate for in the tumultuous times we live in.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My Life Lesson Quote would be, “ When lost in darkness, become the light.” There have been times in my life when I was mired in darkness and despair. There have been times when I felt lost, abandoned. Think about being in a pitch black room, if you strike a match to light a candle, even though it is just a match the dark room seems to explode with the light. This is a theme imbued in The Horseman’s Tale, become the light.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
President Jimmy Carter. I met him briefly … a handshake campaign stop … when I was a young man. In the years that followed, I watched as he, with amazing grace, faith and humility, became a living lesson in citizenship. His humble approach, to….,with his own hands…. feed the hungry and build housing for those in need, is a form of spiritual testament. By his service, he has shown me the way. I would just like to say, “Thank you Jimmy”
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Please read The Horseman’s Tale. You will enjoy the ride! Share it online with friends, your views on it, the things you learned, the things you liked and disliked. If the book helps you, that is “X”. If you share it with ten friends, that is X plus ten. Soon that becomes X plus a million. What was a spark of light in a dark room can light up the world.
You can order The Horseman’s Tale, at TheHorsemansTale.com or anywhere books are sold. Also, connect with me on social media. I’m @TomEquels on Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin. I look forward to hearing from you!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Author Tom Equels Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.