To the keep! (Patreon)

Howdy,

I wanted to give you guys a personal update on my life and what’s going on in the Sandlin household. You bring a certain stability to my life through your support that I wouldn’t have otherwise, so I wanted to let you know what’s up lately. Not in the normal YouTuber "this is what's up on my channel" kind of ways, but in the real person to person kind of way.  There are seasons in life when you need to buckle down and focus on family.  It kind of reminds me of one of those scenes in primitive sword and shield battle movies when a tactical retreat is called by the field commander.  "To the keep!" is usually yelled out and the troops fall back a bit to a more defensible position.   I’m in one of those seasons right now.. 

My wife had surgery recently and recovery seems to be going nicely. It was a significant event, and the doctor says it will take about 10 weeks before she starts to feel normal again. We’re about 4 weeks into that now. My boss at work was SUPER cool about the whole ordeal. I couldn’t have asked for a more considerate and supportive management structure. I really enjoy my job, but I must admit that having several weeks at home with my children makes me feel like I’ve been reintroduced to them. At the beginning of my wife’s recovery the 2 year old only wanted to be consoled by Tara. At this point in the game I feel like my kisses could cure injuries up to, and possibly exceeding an amputation. My daughter will bump her knee or something and come over to me and ask me to kiss it. Once the kiss procedure is complete she’ll say “Kank-yoo Daddy” and go on about her business. My other children aren’t incredibly affectionate, so this is a pretty gigantic deal for me. I’ve done many things in my life, but for some reason the ability to heal a boo-boo with a kiss is super high on the list of things I’m proud of.

The podcast with Matt from Wyoming is going well. We didn’t really know what to expect when we first started. Our main goal is pretty simple. We want to demonstrate that it’s possible for people to disagree and still be friends. We also want to provide a solid example of authentic fathers/husbands. It’s going very well at this point. We’re averaging around 100,000 downloads on each episode, with one peaking up to almost 150,000. We never expected that kind of result, so thank you if you decided to listen. Smarter Every Day has always been a lone-wolf type endeavor, so it’s fun and refreshing to be working on something that involves a direct partnership with a second brain.  From cross referencing the patron list I can see that many of you have chosen to help out.  You're awesome.

I’m excited about a particular video coming up on the channel. For about a year now one of the Patreon goals has been for a “contraption fabricator”. This video involves a device that I’ve been working on for about 2 years. It’s visually pleasing, so I think you’ll enjoy it. Don Pettit dropped by when he was in town a couple of weeks ago and he though it was awesome, so I hope you have the same reaction. I’m not making this video with any intention of creating a viral video… it’s just something I really like and want to make. For me, these are the best videos. I’ve been working with a man for several months now to perfect the operation and we’ve almost completed it. He recently gave me a very reasonable bill that was quite large. I was able to pay him straight up with funding that you’ve provided without worrying about dipping into family money. It felt really cool to do that.

This is the paragraph where I say sappy things about how thankful I am for what you do for me. I’m not trying to fluff you up or anything, so if this sort of thing makes you feel weird just skip the next few sentences. I recently gave a talk at a local convention at the request of the Huntsville Alabama travel bureau. It was called the “Travel Blog Exchange”. I talked about my thoughts on how to make YouTube videos and how authenticity is important… quality over quantity etc. I spoke at length on Patreon and how for many travel bloggers it might be worth looking into. I explained that it’s great for people who make good stuff even on a small level because people would want to partner with them and help them make more content. After the talk some fancy people from some kind of New York marketing agency approached me and asked if my talk was secretly some type of marketing thing for Patreon. They looked a little confused when I said “no, I really do like Patreon that much. Patrons of Smarter Every Day have changed my life and how I think about financing the content that I make.” You have. You provide stability to my crazy life in a way that I didn’t think was possible. Thank you.

I’m actually typing this from bedside in the children’s ER. Due to a stomach virus my son started to lose the body hydration differential equation game and eventually got to the point where he was lethargic. When you can’t keep a little one hydrated you’re left with few options, so we came up to the ER and got an IV to get some fluids in the big man. It’s hard to fathom a world without such a simple medical procedure as an IV. We’re only 150 years down the road from that by the way. Doc says we’re going to be just fine.

I hope this wasn’t too strange. I wanted to give you guys an update without it sounding like a form letter. In short, I’ve retreated to the keep and I’m doubling down on family stuff for the time being. I’m still working on videos, but I’m doing my best to keep my priorities straight and get the family healthy. Thank you.

I’m grateful,

Destin