The Church of No People

Are you a work in progress?

I’ve been guest writing on quite a few blogs and sites these days.  But one of my favorite little stories was posted on, of all places, SheLoves Magazine.  I know, I’m not really the first person you’d think of being there.  (For one thing, I’m not a she.)  

If you didn’t catch the story, here’s a little teaser.  It’s about old photos, embarrassment, and becoming a “real grown up.”  Oh, and SheLoves is giving away a couple of copies of Life After Art, so if you haven’t picked up your copy yet, here’s your chance to save some cash!

To be honest, I just do not enjoy looking at old photos of myself.

My parents cleaned out their basement after my brother and I moved out. A lot of old items were pulled out of boxes, keepsakes and old dusty papers that had not seen light in many years.  It was a family event, sitting on the basement floor and dividing up the precious relics of our now grown-up family.

There were boxes and boxes of photos. Old polaroids and snapshots, many looking eerily like Instagrams with their washed out colors and hazy atmosphere. They had the feel and smell and texture of “real” photos, captured on real film, preserving a real moment now lost in time.  Many were carefully labeled and organized in albums. Hundreds more were left in their envelopes, stacked in boxes, much like the massive piles of photos sitting unorganized on our hard drives.

And so many of them recorded the evidence of this lanky, awkward, shy boy with goofy glasses who doesn’t know who he is in the world, doesn’t quite have the confidence to find out, and certainly doesn’t know how to dress himself or comb his hair correctly.

He is a work in progress.

Finish the story and enter to win a copy of Life After Art at SheLoves Magazine.

Hey early birds, today is the last day!

Today is the final day of the Life After Art early bird special.  The special includes three free resources from me and Moody Publishers.  First is the deluxe edition ebook, with bonus content: more thoughts from me on pursuing beauty and creativity in life.  Second is the Life After Art Field Guide, a study guide of sorts for you to download and use with the book to really help you squeeze every ounce of inspiration out of the book.  And finally is The Art of Storytelling, from Moody Publishers.

Life After Art is just ten bucks on Amazon, and that gets you four great resources.  Just email your receipt to LifeAfterArtBook@gmail.com to claim you freebies.  After today, none of those items will be available for download.

It’s been another great week with lots of generous people hosting me on their blogs or talking about the book.

Justin Davis and Micha Boyett let me share their platforms.  Steven Brewster hosted a Q and A with me.

If you want to see a real live me talking about the book, Brad Blackman and JR Forasteros have videos of those conversations.  Donald McAllister and I did an audio podcast.  I had a really great time talking to all three of those guys.  Brad gets a medal for thus far being the only reader to mention the subtle Napoleon Dynamite reference in the book.

Jennifer Dukes Lee actually had a real live art party and read excerpts from the book to those who attended.  Awesome!

Sue Cramer featured the book prominently in the Spring issue of Praise and Coffee.

And several more people posted reviews of the book, including Zack Hunt, Michelle DeRusha, Tim Gallen, Tony Cradic, Tiffany Stuart and Sarah Elizabeth.

Some of the best news has been the little Facebook and Twitter messages from readers telling me just what the book is doing for them.  I would totally love to hear from you, how Life After Art has inspired you!