The Blog of Author David Allen

Category: Personal

For information about my life, what I’m working on, and how the business side of things is doing.

  • Recent Developments

    Hello friends,

    You may have noticed a lack of posts. Don’t worry, I’m not dead.

    If anything, I’m writing – a lot!

    Here are some recent developments I’m psyched to share with you.

    Pool of Echoes

    Pool of Echoes is about to be released. It is now in the process of formatting, proofreading, and some basic marketing preparation.

    It is a story that does some things I haven’t seen anywhere else, yet still has familiar elements that fans of science fiction and psychological thrillers are certain to enjoy.

    Marketing

    In another post, I talked about getting a marketing degree. Unlike many authors who have a phobia of promoting themselves, I intend to be the opposite.

    Writing is what I’m really committed to, and when you commit to something, it makes sense to ensure that your activities are as valuable as possible – to yourself and others. To suggest otherwise is to cheapen your time, life, and mission.

    Though to be honest, I’m just barely starting to get a handle on what I’m doing.

    I may in the future write some posts about the different things I’m doing to promote the books. If you’re interested in spreading the word about what you do, you may find it useful. If not, you’re welcome to skip it.

    To synthesize everything I’ve learned into a few short sentences, it’s this: Write what really excites you, then position your work where it is easy to find, and make sure you have a way to remain in contact with people who like what you do. Repeat – the more often you can do this without sacrificing quality, the better.

    Working

    Austin is a challenging place to live, especially if you’ve started in the city unemployed and without any network in place. I’ve managed to change both of those things, thanks to my faith and the Three Legs of Trust.

    As a commitment to my writing career, I’ve decided that not a single month will go by where my expenses exceed my income. Sometimes that means 60+ hours a week between multiple jobs. So be it. Doing this may seem like a tough thing to do, but I’ve managed to pull it off for the last 5 months without too much problems. It also has helped me to earn enough money to release more than one book a year. Great news, as that means I’ll be able to put out enough books to – within a few months/years – drop back to 40 hours/week or less. Like a normal person.

    From there, it isn’t unreasonable to expect 2-8 completed works a year, depending on how many worthy ideas I find, and how improved the writing process gets. About 75% or so will be novels while the remaining 25% will likely be screenplays.

    Marketing 2.0

    Ultimately, the activities that are going to work best will have two big features:

    1. It will be effective in earning income and creating more freedom to live well and continue writing indefinitely. (this usually will mean book sales, publishing advances, or screenplay options)

    2. It will be enjoyable for both myself and others.

    Here are some thoughts on different methods:

    Blogging

    Ask any how-to book on how to succeed in writing, and you will get the following advice: Start a blog, write 3-5X a week, and guest post to build your audience. Then, after 6 months or so, you’ll have a platform of people who will be interested when you have something to offer.

    I’ve noticed that for this to work, it’s best to have something valuable and useful to say, 3-5x a week, and even more for guest posting elsewhere.

    For a lot of people, this has worked really well. For me? I just don’t have something incredibly useful to say 3-5X a week, every week.

    Plus, this takes time to do, time that could just as easily be spent writing more books – something I know you really want if you’re on this site. Why would I delay giving you what you want in order to do something I’m not naturally good at, when I don’t have much time to spare as it is?

    I am interested in blogging on specific things, like a production diaries and a reporting of interesting things I find during the research process. Perhaps as sales improve, freeing up more time, I’ll be able to do more of this.

    Audio and Video

    Big secret here.

    When I write, I’m basically writing down a movie that I’m seeing in my head. At least on good days.

    Audio takes very little budget, but works best when you have guests to interview and interface with.

    Video, on the other hand, can be done solo or with guests. You can do interviews, short narratives, how-to’s, screen-captures, and other forms of content. While it takes more resources to do well, I believe my mind works in a way best-suited for this type of content. Doing this will likely be just as rewarding as the writing process.

    PR, Radio, and TV Interviews

    I’m open to them, though I think a publicist would be tremendously helpful if I’m seeking to do this consistently and well.

    Blog Tours

    Heard they’re not that effective, but willing to try them out.

    Series

    There’s Emotionally Bulletproof, and another one in the works! I’m really excited about what you’ll get to read in the near future.

    Audiobooks

    The groundwork is being laid for producing audiobooks of all my works. I don’t have a publicized deadline, but it is super important to me. Audio is one of the best ways for me to read, and I know that a lot of people feel the same way for many different reasons.

    Advertising

    To see if it works, I’ll do it. It seems to be working for a lot of writers. If it works, I’ll keep doing it. If it doesn’t, I’ll try again later with a different release.

    Guest Articles

    I want to have more recent posts, even if I don’t post very often, before really leaning into this. The big reason for using this form of promotion is mainly to make friends in the new media and add value to them as much as possible.

    Book Signings

    They aren’t a great way to leverage your time unless you have a large platform already. If you’re last name is Rowling, or Patterson, or King, or Dekker, then do it. If not, your sales will likely be in the single digits unless you promote hard for 4+ hours on end. This is based on multiple personal experiences. There may be exceptions if you cross-promote with other authors, or create an event with unique appeal. Otherwise, it isn’t a sustainable way to make a living and write, especially if your energy diminishes from being really social – the definition of introversion. With your tank on empty from promoting all day, where is the energy to write more? Add a multi-city tour, and you’ve just added time off work and travel expenses as dual costs that have to be surpassed in order for the event to succeed.

    Book Publishing Events and Conferences

    Completely new to this, but looking forward to seeing how other authors use these in order to improve their connections and contribute as panelists on specific topics. There is one coming up near the end of the month in my home city.

    Compiled Short Stories With a Variety of Genre Authors

    Sounds like a lot of fun. I don’t know how to get something like that started, but I think that with the right group of people it could be really great. While I’m not really accustomed to short-form storytelling, I’d push through that knowledge gap in order to participate in the right compilation.

    Short Story Submission

    Despite searching through Writers’ Market, and some thorough online research, I don’t know a lot of authors doing what I do (best described as Christian-inspired fiction with elements of action, thriller, and sci-fi mixed in), and with the few magazines I have found, it doesn’t look like there’s enough readership and/or financial incentive to justify the work that goes into that type of work so far. Given, if I’m inspired to write a short story, and I later find that such a platform is the best vehicle for it, I’ll gladly put it there to attract readership to my other books and to help the magazine broaden its reader base. Until then, not really feeling it.

    If you know of any good Christian Fiction, or Magazines open to the type of work I do, let me know. It would be an honor to contribute to something people love.

    That’s all folks!

    My next post will likely be about Pool of Echoes being released, so look forward to that. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to sending more great work your way.

  • Anyone can Serve

    Confession: For the longest time, I thought I disliked serving people.

    The reality was that I love serving people, but hate being imposed upon.

    I recently had the pleasure of doing outreach with my church in an assisted living home. After some songs, Bible verses, and a short message, we chatted with the people who lived there. One of them, an obese diabetic in a wheelchair, mentioned that she did Mass in a room down the hall every 2nd Sunday, and said it would be great if we could come.

    Years of guilt-tripping has taught me to recognize an imposition so I can escape it before I am asked. So that’s what I did. I was one of the first to leave, and drove out of there a bit faster than I should have.

    Imagine her surprise next week when she saw me there!

    So I helped with communion, handing out the wine and the bread. Most of the attendees could hardly move, and needed help just getting around.

    And the woman who led mass? She has no legs.

    I don’t mean she can’t use her legs – below the middle of her thighs are thick, round stumps – then nothing but air.

    So this woman cannot move around. She’s stuck in an assisted living home. She’s old and at least 300 lbs – not winning any beauty contests there. Plus, she has no legs.

    Despite that, she had one of the most cheerful spirits out of anyone I had ever met.

    Possibly it’s because she knows that no matter where she is in life, she can always do something that makes a difference.

    If she can, so can you.

  • Cool Stuff Found ‘Round the Web p1

    Mynephew1 by Copo on sxc.huSome things are too awesome not to share.

    This is the first of a (hopefully) many-part series that will send some goodwill towards anybody who’s doing really cool stuff.

    Blackbeard V. Al Capone

    No, it’s not a supreme court case, though I’d watch that.

    This is the epic rap battles of history. When I told a friend about this, he slapped his own face in shock “You’ve just now found out about this!”

    Maybe I’m not the only one.

    Disclaimer: it is PG-13, I’d say, mainly because of language. But incredibly hilarious for anyone who knows basic info about historical figures.

    My only complaint? They use too many fictional characters in their other ones.

    -1 for legitimacy.

    An Injection of Heavy Metal

    I mostly gave up heavy metal because the lyrics were too depressing to dwell on over a long time. Occasionally I’ll get my fix through ‘metal’ versions of non-metal songs.

    The chef in that kitchen is Eric Calderone. Aside from being a great shredding guitarist, he seems to have a cool sense of humor. If he put a collection on Spotify, his stuff would probably get spread around like the flu in early spring.

     

    What about you guys? Any awesome stuff you’ve seen on the net?

    In case this even needs to be said, anything worse than an R rating will disappear. I appreciate freedom of speech, but this website is run by a dictator with boundaries (me), and I won’t have any of that.

  • How I Took Charge Of My Fear and Won – Even When I Wasn’t ‘Supposed To’

    2-bed, 1.5 bath, lovely view if you can do a handstand.

    Fear can come from out of nowhere.

    Last month I got a letter from my landlord – one of these big impersonal companies that has many apartment complexes. For all I know, the person who owns it all might not even be from Texas, or the U.S.

    In the letter, it said that I can choose my rent price.

    The problem? All their options were at least $50 per month more than what I was currently paying.

    Fear struck.

    Fear? Why now? I’ve moved eight times since 2008. Multiple states, and at least 3 countries. Why would I be scared of a simple move now?

    In the middle of my freaking out, I took this opportunity to apply what was written in this previous post.

    Get more information to understand the problem –

    – and get moving.

    Austin is a bubble of craziness in America. It’s one of the few real estate markets in the U.S. that continues to ignore the Wall Street Journal and MSNBC – the housing market keeps going up, up, up. Even after the recession, Austin’s population grows faster than contractors can build. How was I going to keep prices low, and have a story completely different than the one being told for me?

    With my delivery job, I had visited nearly every apartment complex in a 5 mile radius – many times. Combine that with my past experience being a Realtor, and my business education, and I was someone who could actually do something. Maybe it wouldn’t be much, but it might be enough.

    I visited several apartment complexes and got quotes. Most of them were higher than what I was paying. Then I found two – both were closer to town.

    One was over 100 sq feet less than what I currently had.

    The other?  superior in every way. I got on the waiting list for this one and then attempted to renegotiate with my landlord.

    The landlord had an assistant who had zero business experience. You could see it in the way he carried himself. He was four to five rungs down in this big, plastic ladder.

    I remembered the whole time to keep my cool, be polite, avoid ultimatums. I even offered to pay multiple months of rent in advance as leverage.

    He pulled market pricing excuses (which were hard to cross reference, where did he get this info?) then looked at this big 3-ring binder filled with Excel spreadsheets. Then he countered to raise my rent a hundred dollars higher than the increased price their letter started with.

    Bad negotiating.

    You could say I ‘lost’. Sometimes a system is structured so you end up ‘negotiating’ with someone who doesn’t have the ‘authority’ to do anything. So many people are ‘just doing their job’ in a compartmentalized existence for faceless brand symbols pursuing false idols, leaving real human beings exposed to the damage left behind…but I digress.

    By getting on a waiting list earlier, and not waiting until the last minute – I had options baby!

    I signed a lease yesterday with one that will actually cost around 40 dollars LESS per month than what I’m already paying. It’s closer to town, is in a gated community, and has larger square footage. Combine that with the 50$ price increase I would have paid, I saved around 800$, including moving expenses.

    Lucky? Maybe. But if I hadn’t reached out for more information, and if I hadn’t continued to take small steps forward, no amount of luck in the world would have made a difference.

    So I lost the negotiation, but beat the victim mentality and got what I wanted. A way to keep costs down and continue to build momentum in a place I enjoy living.

    Have you had any victories against the victim mentality? I’d love to know. I’d even feature you in a blog post if your story is (A: true) and (B: awesome). Until then, leave a synopsis of what happened in the comments…

  • How An Angry Rant May Help You Find Your Motivation and Your Strength

    What kind of messed up world do we live in where it’s become socially unacceptable to get upset?

    like gas prices, there is a cost of getting gas - and a cost of NOT getting gas
    Emotions are like gas prices, there is a cost of getting gas – and a cost of NOT getting gas.
    photo by andlynx on sxc.hu

    We’ve been taught that it is a sign of weakness to throw a tantrum and express our frustrations. And there are times and places where that’s true. But have we become so proud of our ability to hold it in that we take it too far?

    If young men die and children bleed, does shrugging our shoulders at it make us feel cool?

    If we’re spied on 24/7, and someone calls it like it is – do we rationalize why they should have kept their head down?

    At age 12, I went to  middle school for the first time. I was elated to hang out with the same kids I knew from church my whole life. We hung out every weekend, spent the night at each others houses, played Playstation till midnight, and slashed through the woods with sticks pretending they were swords.

    But the environment was different at school. The game had changed, and everyone knew it but me. It was there I first discovered that people can be dishonest to themselves in order to please others.

    Your weekend friends might not be the same as your school friends.

    That’s not to say I was perfect. I was a pretty selfish son of a mother. While I don’t take responsibility for things I never could have known about, I do take full responsibility for learning as much as possible so that I can understand social pressures and relationships.

    For about 6 months, I was pretty much an exile. I had one friend from elementary school, and he kept to himself. Thank God for J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Jacques, and countless other writers whose books kept me alive when I had nothing to look forward to.

    In all those stories, there was evil running rampant. It was easy to see who to root for. While real life isn’t always that easy, what happens when we run into a moral grey area? We’ve been taught not to get angry, not to get upset.

    At home, I couldn’t even grunt at something without an angry parent warning me ‘Don’t you dare show anger in this house’.

    A blogger was born.

    Ignoring Emotions Makes You Weak

    Anger is a symptom. Happiness is a symptom. Bliss is a symptom. They shouldn’t cause us to react, but emotions are often what causes us to do anything worth doing.

    Without curiosity, who would visit other countries?

    Without fear of loss. who would work to develop a cure for a terrible disease?

    Without happiness, how do we know what to replicate in our lives on a daily basis?

    We’ve been taught that emotions are the enemy, when they may be the very thing that allow us to stand up and face real enemies. Managing emotions isn’t the same as denying them. Ignoring a warning sign in your soul doesn’t make you strong.

    We live in a world crafted to ignore emotions.

    When the boss wants twenty widgets produced an hour, he can’t allow for such foolish things as desperation, giddiness, or shame – so he acts like you’re weak because you see – and feel – that two plus two equals four. Don’t expect him to say he’s sorry, he’s spent so long believing that ‘sorry’ doesn’t exist, that he’s drunk on his own juice box.

    Pity him. He’s found great influence with words and wealth, but lost his humanity.

    Emotions Can Cut Through the Lies

    Just because someone else is more eloquent than us, that doesn’t make them right.

    Just because the discussion has been framed for us – so we can’t see outside of the perspectives being taught – that doesn’t mean that we should let ‘experts’ make the tough decisions on our behalf.

    Just because there’s nothing ‘they’ can do, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do.

    Normally I try to write something really useful – a how to kind of thing. Something that’s really practical, and makes your life better. If you’re still reading this, you may be thinking of your own emotions, and you may be feeling some guilt.

    That boss who wants twenty widgets an hour? He may have been permanently imprinted onto your mind. He’s pissed right now, because emotions make things inconsistent, they mess up your schedule, and short-circuit your deadlines. He wants you to get six hours sleep tonight instead of eight, so you can make up for your outburst – your imperfection.

    Screw him.

    Those imperfections may be the only real reason for doing anything productive at all. They may be the only thing between you and slavery. They may be what causes you to reject the grey area, and turn it white as snow.

  • 2 Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Fear

    splatter question by bessarro at sxc.hu
    splatter question by bessarro at sxc.hu

    Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itselfnameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. – Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address – March 4, 1933

    Fear is a trigger that pulls you right into a victim mentality. It is such a strong trigger that you may find it difficult to get back out again. Here, I share my own experience dealing with fear. By getting out of it fast, you reduce the time you spend in a victimizing self-image.

    Note: Keep in mind that this post is designed to alleviate fear in non-deadly, non-urgent situations. It is not meant to be a guide to self-defense or to teach lightning-fast reaction skills necessary in deadly scenarios. While some of the principles may cross over, those situations require more intensive preparation and training. It also does not deal with phobias, which are usually based on easy to see stimuli (heights, the band KISS, etc)

    —

    Fear does two things to your body, and to your progress in life.

    1. It slows or stops your movements
    2. It throws a situation in your face that you know little about

    Fear = Ignorance + Paralysis

    IGNORANCE:

    The scariest part of any horror movie is when?

    The part leading up to when you finally see the monster.

    What happens next? A sharp spike in surprise and panic – then you adjust.

    So he’s an humanoid alien with a huge head, thinks Ripley. I can work with that.

    So the KKK guy is actually a fat old-timey pharmacist wearing a white hood.

    Nothing can compete with what’s in your head, that’s why things are scarier when we cannot see them. That’s why death is so scary. Nobody truly knows what happens. Sure, as a Christian I can tell you what I believe, but I’ve never actually died. There is a great unknown that we cannot reach without crossing a line and not coming back.

    PARALYSIS:

    I once hit an elk at sixty miles an hour. The beast managed to stop in front of the road when it saw me coming – then proceeded to crap on the hood as it tried to jump away.

    To this day, I call that experience a ‘drive-by s***ting’.

    Thank God I was not only okay, but the car worked well enough to take me the remaining 60 miles between Boise and Sun Valley.

    Mademoiselle Elk reinforced what I already learned from body language books. Fear makes you seize up before you can react. It’s called tonic immobility.

    This happens in your brain too, but the paralysis in your decision-making can last much longer.

    While you do not want to react to the problem emotionally, you need to keep moving. That’s why activity and work is so helpful for the mind.

    Take a small step. Regardless of how small it may seem. Before you know it, you’ll be taking larger steps. Finally, with most of your fear gone, you’ll see enough of the road in front of you to be confident again.

    How do you beat fear the next time you are afraid?

    • Learn more about the situation.
    • Get moving again.

    If this seems hard, tell yourself that you can go back to being afraid after you take a few forward steps and get more information. Chances are, you’ll be afraid again. We all are.

    Have you realized anything similar to this in your own experiences with fear? Let me know in the comments

  • The Victim Mentality

    You can tell when you’re in the victim mentality.

    It’s easy.

    1. The day is almost over and you’ve accomplished nothing.

    2. You’re angry.

    When you get angry, it may give you a short burst of energy. Showing anger may feel like an expression of masculinity, but it only reveals how easy it is to hurt your feelings.

    In fact, it’s worse than steroids; steroids may shrink your balls, but at least you’re still wearing pants.

    From about age 6-19, I was addicted to the burst of energy i’d get by being angry. I’m 25 now, so after 6 years of trying to find better, more productive mental states, I still find anger sneaking up on me.

    Moving to Austin was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make, and it was one built on a lot of truth. It was also based on a lot of confirmation bias and hype. Someone said there were jobs here, and apparently let the word out to everyone in the country.

    It’s not like I don’t have a job. Technically, I have two. But the reality is that right now I live very solidly in the “I’m, but” demographic Jon Acuff talks about in Quitter.

    I want to be a lawyer, but I deliver pizzas.

    I’m a production assistant, but what i’d really like to do is direct.

    I’m a temp data entry worker, but I’d like to start my own business.

    You’ve heard these things before. In fact, you may have said similar things 10+ times in the last week.

    Maybe you don’t even know what you want to do – but it’s not what you’re doing now.

    In any case, it’s easy to get distracted by thinking everyone’s stupid, or how nobody’s giving you a chance, or that God – that universal-vending-machine-in-the-sky, isn’t giving you a solid answer no matter how many times you ask.

    Note: God is not a vending machine, but we act like He’s supposed to be when we’re in the victim mentality.

    It’s one of the reasons I’m writing this upcoming book. A victim mentality can cripple anyone, regardless of how much potential is inside each of us.

    This idea has been so important for me to learn, that it may help anyone else struggling with this mentality, so I’m writing it as a book first.

    Get out of this mentality, and you can be creative.

    You can enjoy relationships based on who people truly are, not by how much they can further your interests.

    You can treat life for the enjoyable journey it was meant to be.

    I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. – Ecclesiastes 3:12 NIV

    What do you do to get yourself out of the victim mentality?

  • Manic Depressive Writer Syndrome

    I’ve heard all writers have it, and now I can no longer exclude myself.

    It’s not the worst feeling in the world. The destination you have is the same as it was when you were hyper-motivated, but your sense of direction is off. There is nothing so disarming as a dancing compass when you’re trying to get somewhere. So while it does feel bad, and what you feel you must do at the present moment is unclear, it really isn’t that soul crushing.

    Trust me, this is coming from someone who thought depression was normal after living with it for almost half my life.

    What does a lost writer do? Look for meaning. If you’re Christian, the bible is a good place to start, so I started reading Psalms and found this quote:

    I’m hurt and in pain;
    Give me space for healing, and mountain air.

    It came from Psalm 69 in the Message Bible. Anyway, in a moment of melodrama, I decided to become a hermit and live in the mountains. So I drove a quarter mile to this range of hills and got out of the car. “Today I go into the wilderness” I said to myself in my best Mexican accent.

    What I forgot about in my quest for healing and mountain air is that I’m one of the worst hikers on earth. I don’t do it very often, and about halfway up this 800-foot hill I thought, “well, forget this”, in a slightly less Christian word choice. I turned around – the hill was much steeper looking down than it seemed going up. It took forever to get down, probably because of the sliding rocks and the fact that I ignored the ‘avalanche warning’ sign at the foot of the hill. There was no snow on this mountain, but when there’s an avalanche warning, you know the slope is pretty steep.

    So yeah, I’m practically the worst Alaskan ever. My journey into the wilderness hadn’t even made it past the first ridge, and a poodle was barking at me from the house at the foot of the mountain. I couldn’t even get away from the fenced-in poodle.

    If you’ve ever gone hiking, you’ve probably seen this character archetype: you’re exhausted and halfway up the mountain when you see these baby boomers powering down the hill. These people are in their seventies, really ugly, and can outhike most people in their 20’s. In Hailey Idaho, people are a lot like that, except without the ugly. In this introspective moment, these non-ugly old hikers became role models in my mind.

    Still, how did the early trailblazers do this stuff? I can imagine Lewis and Clark trying to get down that hill: in the beginning they are inching their way down with dread and caution in their eyes; one month later, they are sprinting down those slopes like hungry mountain lions charging at an Argentine steakhouse. Sacagawea must have rolled her eyes when she saw those newbie hikers fresh out of the east coast. “I’ll go with these guys because they won’t last half an hour without me. Hopefully they’ll give up before this turns into a long-term committment.” But no, those two young adventurers imagined a future where old, good-looking people can run around in those wilderness hills for recreational purposes, before heading back to their coffee shops in downtown.

    So that’s what I did. I got down the mountain and drove to my local coffeeshop, where they gave me a Yerba Maté Latte for free, thanks to a written review I had given them comparing them to Lord of the Rings and Narnia with a shot of espresso and vanilla syrup. Things are already looking up. From there, I sat down and proceeded to just write about whatever.

    It just goes to show, when you feel bad, things can still turn around for the better really quickly. So hang in there.

  • Emotionally Bulletproof Update

    What a busy week it has been for my co-author and me.

    We have done a lot of traveling in the past few weeks, traveling to Illinois, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle. We have done public speeches, book signings, selling to bookstores, and even a television interview, which will be announced here as soon as we know the air date.

    The biggest lesson so far: Most people are pretty approachable.

    Biggest spiritual lesson: If you follow biblical principles, and the people you do business with follow them as well, the plans you make together are more likely to become a reality.

    Future Plans

    One of my fellow coaches is working with me to develop a website where people can get to know all of our coaches, learn from them, and even learn to become their own coach!

    We should have the site up sometime in May.

    Book three should be available on Amazon within a few weeks. It so far has been the most challenging to write out of all of them, and I’m proud of what it is.

  • V-Day

    Calligraphy from the 15th century…brought to you by the letter 'V'!

    I know it was the 12th, but I celebrated Valentines day last Saturday night.

    Least favorite holiday of the year. Still, I had a good time.

    I was visiting the church of a friend, and spent the weekend staying with his family. There were two church services, a park outreach, singing in a nursing home, and a fancy Valentine’s dinner celebration all in one day.

    Keep in mind, I rarely make it through one church service, let alone two. When you add several outreach ministries on the back end, anyone can be made to feel stressed by the end of that day. The social atmosphere of church usually wears me down. Hopefully I will have more days like this to push through and increase my social stamina.

    Anyway, on to the celebration. There was Italian food, and violins playing concertos. It felt like something out of Pride and Prejudice – the atmosphere can make any man feel like a gentleman. The evening was followed by my friend, his brother, his Pastor father, and me all playing a cover of “Surfin’ U.S.A.”.

    Don’t even ask.

    The crowd loved it though, and it was a great way to start playing the guitar again after a year of letting the callouses deteriorate from my fingertips. Other acts followed: stand-up comedy, covers of love songs by a talented pianist, and finally, the highlight of the evening, the affirmations.

    In one calculated move, the Richardson Texas church took the one thing I disliked about Valentine’s day and made it my favorite part. After this post, you are sure to feel the same.

    One by one, people stood up and publicly thanked the individuals who have showed them love at different points in their lives. This was symbolized by a short speech, and an exchange of roses and chocolate.

    The usual suspects had their time in the spotlight. The happily married couples, significant others, and boyfriends/girlfriends had plenty of opportunities to make single people feel jealous, and painfully aware of their own lack of relationship. The expressions of love exchanged on that night lightened the atmosphere and gave me great appreciation for the group of people gathered there.

    Brothers and sisters, guitarists and soundmen, mothers and sons, and friends of one another all had their chance to show how much love and respect they had for their close friendships.

    The affirmations took a long time to wrap up, and we left the church after 10:30 p.m.

    Even though we stayed at ‘church’ from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., I went to bed feeling less worn out than I normally do after three hours of traditional church worship services.

    Valentines day is a great day to be alive.