Finding Art: A Life Well Lived
In a world where we often shy away from difficult conversations, "Co-Created" brings us face-to-face with the power of embracing life's most challenging moments through digital storytelling. Host Kristy Wolfe welcomes Tom Lee, a retired engineering professor with a terminal cancer diagnosis who has transformed his experience into art, community building, and storytelling.
Tom's journey begins unexpectedly—diagnosed with stage three colon cancer that later progressed to stage four metastatic cancer. Rather than retreating from this reality, Tom leaned into creative expression, discovering a talent for pastel drawing that blossomed within six months of his first lesson. This artistic awakening became the subject of his digital story, crafted with Common Language facilitators Jenni Haggie and Lacey Horta, from the Canadian Cancer Society. What makes Tom's approach so compelling is his openness about his condition and his determination to make meaningful use of his remaining time.
Watch Tom’s digital story here.
Digital storytelling provided Tom with a structured format to distill his experience into something digestible and impactful. Having spent his career as an educator and communicator, Tom found the discipline of crafting a concise narrative with a clear message particularly valuable. The collaborative workshop environment created a supportive community of fellow storytellers facing similar challenges, which Tom describes as essential to his journey: "You can't do this journey alone... as soon as you believe you are alone, your head goes to really bad places."
Beyond his digital story, Tom has extensive storytelling experience through YouTube videos that document his cancer journey, showing an evolution from lighthearted early videos to more profound reflections. He's also writing a book that weaves together his off-grid cottage experiences, cancer journey, and academic reflections—a multifaceted approach to leaving behind his story. Perhaps most impressive is Tom's commitment to fundraising for cancer research and the arts, culminating in a planned event called "A Celebration of Friendship, Community and Peace" that will bring together his passions for engineering, music, and poetry.
Check out Tom’s Youtube channel here.
What resonates most powerfully throughout this conversation is Tom's philosophy that "the cure for cancer is a life well-lived." He acknowledges that his creative endeavors and community building aren't necessarily enlightening or enriching approaches to his situation—they're tools for "parking the inevitable." Yet in this honest acknowledgment lies profound wisdom about how we might all approach mortality. Tom's reflections on modern palliative care emphasize the importance of quality of life over extension at all costs, reminding listeners that conversations about end of life once came more naturally to society before our medical advancements extended lifespans dramatically.
Episode 41 Key Messages
0:00 Embracing meaningful life moments
2:15 Tom's journey with cancer
5:20 Discovering art during terminal diagnosis
9:01 Creating digital stories and building community
13:54 Writing a book and fundraising events
21:17 Modern palliative care
25:52 Documenting life's end
As Tom contemplates his final message, he considers focusing on life's simple pleasures—favourite foods, places visited during his travels to over 40 countries—because "when all is said and done, life comes down to these really sharply focused things." This perspective offers all of us, regardless of our circumstances, an invaluable lesson about prioritizing what truly matters. Through digital storytelling, photography, and honest conversation, both Tom and Kristy remind us that documenting life's most challenging moments isn't something to fear—it's something to embrace with courage and creativity.
About Our Guest
Dr. Tom Lee is a retired engineering faculty member and endowed chair holder at McMaster University. Prior to his appointment, he enjoyed three career decades in the commercialization of advanced engineering technologies. During his industry career, he built a global reputation for developing transformational multidisciplinary initiatives in engineering education and research. Dr. Lee also has a passion for outreach with significant contributions to FIRST Robotics, Shad Valley, and the Canadian Cancer Society. In 2019 he was inducted Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and honoured by Tsinghua University as Distinguished Honorary Professor. In 2022, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate LLD, from York University.
In 2022, Dr. Lee was diagnosed with colon cancer which evolved to terminal metastatic cancer. This triggered his retirement from McMaster. In retirement, he has been exploring creative activities for personal enrichment and enlightenment including pastel drawing, video production, and outreach. This led to the epiphany that the cure for cancer is a life well lived and that his best days may still be ahead of him. This event was conceived to continue the Lee family’s efforts to make every day our best day.
About Co-Created
Co-Created is a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of digital storytelling. On each episode, host Kristy Wolfe dives into conversations with the storytellers and facilitators who bring digital stories to life.
If this particular conversation resonated with you, tell a friend or a colleague about Co-Created or share one of the digital stories we were talking about. You can find the stories here.
Co-Created is presented by Common Language DST, digital storytelling facilitation training for health and wellness changemakers and is supported by the team at Snack Labs.
