First of all, I am not a writer. I am a storyteller. So, if you are a writer or an editor, you are more than welcome to edit any of my work. There will be a link at the bottom of every piece I write with instructions for submitting edits and revisions. Any assistance you can give will be greatly appreciated.

As much as possible, I will be using other forms of storytelling to share the narratives that are important to me. These narratives will cover a diverse but limited range of topics. I feel strongly and possibly one-sided about some issues, so I will be offering the opportunity for others to present different or contrasting points of view.

At times, I will invite guests to write.

Comments will be reviewed before they are posted and that may take a while. I will retain the right to edit or delete comments. I am opposed to misrepresentations of facts, attacks of other people, and the use of rhetoric over logic. I look for multiple contrasting truths, respectful dialogue, and new ways of thinking about an issue.

The topics I will enjoy covering are:

• Anything that has to do with the appreciation and care of the natural world around us
• Kayaking
• 360-degree views of nature and GoPro-type videos
• Drones
• The United States Constitution and the freedom of belief
• Economics, specifically the economic benefits of kindness and the destructive nature of greed
• LGBT issues, with an emphasis on what nature and the holy writers really have to say about those that are non-heterosexual.
• Teamwork
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Logical signatures
• Natural human development and masculine identity
• Data and fact: my specialty is the role of motivation, opinion, and bias in data and science
• Fish farming
• The struggles of dieting
• Grief
• Childhood trauma
• The science and mathematics of kindness, love, and intimacy
• Genesis 3, Revelation 18 and 19, and Matthew 19
• The Abrahamic family model
• Relational look at the Jewish temple structure
• Recycling, reuse, renewal

Some topics I will regret covering:

• Politics, ways to see the other side
• Discrimination – we all do it
• Bigotry is destroying America
• Pollution – if we cannot talk climate change, can at least talk about pollution
• Greed – this is not a good thing and never was
• The laziness and greed of the American working classes
• The top 2%, who are failing their responsibility
• Social justice programs, the need for more self-supporting programs and value exchange programs.

As you can see, it will be a very diverse set of topics. To be really honest, I will be trying to use this space to tell stories that are funny, ironic, thought-provoking, insightful, uplifting, sad, or frightening. I am hoping this is a place that helps others in their search for truth and better ideas but that it is not a place where anyone is told what truth is. These are simply stories, experiences, understandings, and opinions. When facts are presented here, there will be a real effort to understand the bias behind those facts.

This space will be used to promote several organizations and concepts that are important to me. I do not want to hide that, so I will list the names of those organizations and concepts here: BRG Street Community, BRG Street Concepts, Data Dialect, BarraBlue.US, Showcase 63, Westerly, Coyote Bandits, Church 1.0, Canvasback Missions, eFective Computer Solutions, TRIM, TOSEL, and LOVE_ARC.

This is the conversation from one night in my sleep after a day of covering some really deep insights. The insights were really freeing for me and would benefit others if I could find a way to tell them. If I could be a respected source on the related topics.

“…this is the truth that others need to know. This undoes so many of the lies we have been told all our lives and frees us from the selfishness that plagues our society and this earth. Why will you not let me share this message with them?”

“It is not the understandings or the insights that you have been given to you that you are to share. It is your story that you are to share and your story is not done yet.”

Here are the basics—just a few facts that make me totally unique and make the stories worth sharing.

• When I was 2, there was a traumatic and destructive event that happened in my home. Experts have studied these events for men who were under the age of 3 when these events happened. The studies show a very altered set of percentages for these men. Only 10% of these men are able to be classified as normal. Almost 50% of them are convicted of violent and sexual crimes by the age of 40. In the standard population, this percentage is under 10%.Of the 10% that is normal, 9 out of 10 of them are normal because their father is able understand the damage and eliminate it. My father was the cause of the problem. This leaves me with about a 1% chance of being normal. At age 45, by three different professional evaluations, I was not only declared normal but healthy. I am a walking miracle.
• This was not the only event; there were many more. I have moments in my life that my brain has blocked out. I have just started to remember a few details about an event that leads me to believe that I was molested by a stranger who was working on one of our neighbors’ houses.
• As a young married man, I had to sign papers to end the life of my 12-day-old daughter.
• I have been married twice for a total of over 23 years and I have never been through a breakup or a divorce. Both of my marriages are legal because of two very different rules given by the United States Supreme Court in the last 100 years. I would love to talk to anyone else who fits this catagory.
• The real tearjerker is the story of June 2, 2010, when my wife and soul-mate of 20 years passed away.
• Up until the crash of 2008, I was the brains behind a software business that sold a quarter of a million dollars in goods and services in just a few years and was in the black. There are 1000 people worldwide who have done that.
• I have tested in the top 1% for mathematics in the nation and the top 2% for science.

But, from what I can understand, it is not the understandings that are worth sharing; it is the stories. And it is time to start sharing them. May these stories give us hope and help us as we seek better understandings is my prayer.

Instructions to Editors:

1. Please only edit one piece at a time.
2. Please contact me first before making any content suggestions on a piece.
3. Mark all changes in red and use a line through for deletions. I prefer MS Word .doc or .docx format with “Tracking Changes” turned on.
4. Send edits to montell@efective.com.
5. Include a return email.
6. Ask me to be a friend on Facebook and Private Message me that you sent me an edit. Or send me a text at (925) 285-0497.