Category Archives: Blog

I’m the opposite of cool. Cool people aren’t supposed to get excited. And, I – I’m very easily excitable.

My wife laughs about it. Because she knows me so well, she knows how excited I get. And she’s quick to point it out. ”You think that guy’s cool, don’t you?” That’s what she asks me when she sees I have a new man crush.

Or the other day at Starbucks, I was frantically trying to point out a guy in line that lived in the same apartment complex as us. She thought I was pointing out a celebrity because of how excited I was. Nah, just a random dude I saw in the hallway a few times. You might call me a bounding puppy dog of excitement at times. That would be accurate. Read more…

It was 3am. The pain in my left shoulder was finally reaching intolerable levels. I tapped on my wife’s shoulder, trying to gently pull her from sleep. “Help me.”

She tried massage. We tried Advil. We tried a sleeping pill. Finally we decided on the Emergency Room.

She drove me there. We signed in. We were seen immediately. I threw up three times – from pain – before the doctor arrived. We took X-rays, two EKGs, and some blood samples. It turns out I probably had a torn rotator cuff.

But the doctor came back after each test with concern in his face. Your EKG makes it look like you had a minor heart attack. The blood results came back negative on the heart attack, but those yielded their own concerns: diabetes, massive infection, a host of things. Read more…

Video blog: I chat about teleportation, the blue screen of death, and try not to wreck my car.

Video Blogging: Yesterday I tried to record a video blog since I didn’t have time to write. I looked both nervous and pretentious. I still want to make it happen…but I’m not liking how it’s turning out. I don’t know how to fix that.

Communicating with a Following: I run into this dilemma. My committed following (small) hears most of what I have to say. But most of my following doesn’t keep that close tabs on me. How do I make sure to communicate with all the following without over-communicating to and annoying my committed following?

Busy Weeks: I’m in a busy week right now. I’ve had an accumulating list of unfinished to-do items. It won’t always be this way. It’s a wave and the low point will come soon. I have to remind myself of that so I don’t stress out.

Feelings of Dread: I’ve found myself having random moments of dread occasionally. I get really worried randomly about a tiny event or a looming deadline. Not sure where those are coming from but I’ve been working hard to keep a good perspective. Most of what I worry about doesn’t matter.

Criticism from a Friend: Wounds from a friend can be trusted. But criticism from a friend sucks. The good thing is, criticism is rarely about you. It’s usually about the critic. It’s their insecurities, baggage, and prejudices. You don’t have to let it phase you. Sure, it hurts…but shake it off and move on.

Today I opened Twitter to search the #Echo13 hashtag. I was ticked to find out a festival in Germany, that previously used #Echo2013, had now jacked #Echo13 as well. Great. Just great. Stinkin’ Europeans…

Then yesterday I was informed a magazine had reprinted a blog post I’d written without my permission. Stinkin’ Christian magazines. On top of that, it’s rainy today.

There are moments in the creative process that drag you down. They’re moments of discouragement, frustration, or anxiety. And today, those moments put me in a funk. (Not the groovy kind.) How can you hope to create something great in moments like these? Read more…

Yesterday was a wasteland. A wasteland of motivation. After lunch I hit a wall and felt like I was trudging through mud trying to get things done. I felt like I completely lacked motivation. I hate trying to do anything when I’m not motivated.

So I had two options. (1) I could watch one hour of the best dubstep cat video ever. Or (2) I could make myself motivated. And yes, you can make yourself motivated.

I chose the latter. Read more…

I had lunch with a friend the other day. He recently moved his family to the DFW area for a new job. A few weeks ago, though, he found out they were letting him go. He’d signed papers on a new home one week before that. Ouch. So now he’s stuck in Dallas, away from the support of family, with a large mortgage weighing him down.

I helped him find another job when I found out. Seemed like a great fit. Great pay. Exactly what he wanted to do. At lunch I found out that fell through too. So my friend was pouring his heart out to me at while we chomped on sandwiches.

I’m empathetic, but I’m not sure I was the best company for him that day. Because when I heard his story, I actually got excited for him. Excited for his pain. Read more…

There are two, nay three types of creators in the world. There are those that jump before thinking. There are those that think before jumping. And there are those that think before jumping, but never jump.

Unfortunately I’ve found those last two are often the same. There are too many people with great ideas that are afraid to jump because they’re thinking it through too much. And unfortunately, they probably never will jump.

Of the three types of people, I’m probably the type that jumps before thinking. I have an idea. I process for a couple minutes. Then I just go for it. I don’t have all the details planned. But I see the end result I want and I take the leap to get there. Read more…

Last night I approached a potential sponsor for Echo Conference. A big sponsor. I mean…a really big sponsor. And having them on board could save our attendees money in a big way.

I had the epiphany while jogging. I needed to contact them. They were an obvious choice. But…they were a huge company that probably wouldn’t say yes.

That’s when I began convincing myself it wasn’t worth trying. I knew they’d say no, so why should I even waste their’s and my time? I quickly murdered those thoughts. That was the wrong way to think. Read more…

Here’s a new project I’m working on to build momentum and excitement until Echo Conference 2013. I’m taking different photos each day of the Echo logo in various states. It’s going to stretch me creatively – having to do this every day. And that’s very good. Enjoy! Read more…