THE SUPERNATURAL DRY SPELL

Suspicious

THE START OF MY WRITING CAREER

The Dawn of the Internet is the reason SSQQ became the largest independent dance studio in America at the Millennium. 

Taking advice from tech-savvy dance students, I was fortunate to create one of the first 'dance studio' websites on the Internet. 

Starting in 1998, I began collecting email addresses from students.  I spent the next seven years writing one or two stories a month from my dance career.  I posted these stories on the SSQQ website.  Once the story was complete, I would notify my students by way of my Email Newsletter.  If a student was curious, they would click in and see what outrageous thing happened to me this time.  Invariably I made sure they would notice a link to the schedule of upcoming dance classes.  Don't tell anyone, but I used my stories as a lure to get people to visit my website.  In other words, the Newsletter and website stories were an entertaining form of advertising.  

Referring to these stories as "Adventures of a Dance Teacher", I recounted the various highlights, funny stories, interesting people and obstacles encountered over the past 27 years.  Some of my stories were funny, some were sad, some were crazy.  Thanks in large part to energy created by the SSQQ Newsletter, the studio thrived.

My writing career moved to a deeper level in May 2005.  The time had come when I no longer had any amusing 'Reality-based' stories left to tell.  Having exhausted my treasure chest of Realistic stories, the only material I had left was my wide array of inexplicable coincidences, bad breaks and fortuitous lucky breaks.  Some of these events were so far-fetched they belonged in Ripley's Believe it or Not.  As of 2005, my List of Suspected Supernatural Events now stood at 110.  However, I was reluctant to share my unusual belief system based on experiences in the past.  Three times I had told girlfriends why I believed in Fate: Patricia, Jann, Judy Price.  Patricia and Jann had responded with scorn.  Judy had responded with deep skepticism as well.  However, Judy swiftly changed her mind after the Gordian Knot Waltz mishap. 

One day I ran across something pertinent said by Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist.  To my knowledge, Jung was the only Western author of note who wrote candidly about Mysticism.  Here is what Jung said:

"Synchronicity is the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer.  Synchronicity is an ever-present reality for those who have eyes to see.

As a psychiatrist I have often come up against the unusual phenomena in question and could convince myself how much these inner experiences can mean to my patients.  In most cases they were events people do not talk about for fear of exposing themselves to thoughtless ridicule.  I was amazed to see how many people have had experiences of this kind and how carefully their secret is guarded." 

The moment I read "For those who have eyes to see," I knew exactly what Jung was referring to.  Based the humiliation caused by Patricia's scorn, from this point on I was very reluctant to stick my neck out

Recalling Patricia's harsh criticism of my mystical beliefs, so far I had kept my weird stories secret for fear of ridicule.  However, I was caught between a rock and a hard place.  I wanted to avoid making a public spectacle of myself, but I had to write about something.  If I tiptoed around the Supernatural overtones, maybe I could risk publishing a story about my Parking Lot Conversation.  Taking a deep breath, I wrote about the day Maria Ballantyne, 48, came to the rescue during my Senior year crisis in high school.  Carefully excluding any mention of Coincidence or God, my story concentrated on the importance of helping those who can't help themselves. 

"A Simple Act of Kindness" was the phrase Mrs. Ballantyne used to describe the greatest lucky break of her life.  When she was 17, a Galveston gangster she barely knew had offered to pay her college education.  Here is the concluding passage from my 2005 Newsletter article: 

"This has been the story of how a 45 minute talk in a parking lot made all the difference in the world to me.  Mrs. Ballantyne's gentle words helped me overcome a terrible crisis.  The main point is how she and other people came along at key times during my childhood to point me in the right direction when I was about to lose my way.

Someday I am going to come across a kid who clearly needs a lift.  Perhaps I will know the child well or maybe just barely.  And when I get my opportunity, I hope a few kind words and suggestions of my own will have the same healing effect that Mrs. Ballantyne's conversation had on me many many years ago. 

I will do this because I have learned the power of a Simple Act of Kindness."

To my great relief, no one objected to the story despite its obvious religious implications.  In fact, I received more compliments and encouragement on this story than anything I had ever written.  Some readers even said it made them cry. 

Gratified by the response, I questioned my decision to avoid mentioning the mystical impact this event had on my life.  Although I had made sure to avoid using the word 'Miracle' regarding the coincidence of Mrs. Ballantyne's surprise appearance at my store, that message was loud and clear for anyone "who had eyes to see".  Maybe I was being too careful.  Or maybe not.  If I were to write another story, do I dare tell the truth?  What would my students think if I told them I believed an invisible Guardian Angel had sent a telepathic message to Mrs. Ballantyne guiding her to my grocery store that day?  Most people would probably be disgusted. 

"Rick Archer is out of his mind.  Does he think he's blessed by God or something?"

Even worse, maybe I would be accused of 'uranomania', the delusion that one is in direct contact with God.  Given that Caligula was a previous recipient, I was very reluctant to be lumped with him.  I had a business to protect.  The studio had 1,400 people streaming through our doors each week.  Did I really want to jeopardize the studio's phenomenal success by delving into areas I did not belong?  Probably not.

However, my conscience was really bothering me.  I was upset due to all the compliments I received for creating this special program.  To me, there was an unusual warmth that permeated the studio.  Where did this warmth come from?  In my heart, I believed the studio had received a spiritual blessing.  God was the architect who worked through me.  But to say so openly invited ridicule.  Yes, SSQQ was special, but did I dare tell anyone that I attributed its success directly to God?  Not worth the risk. 

JIM DULANEY

CREDIBILITY

Serious

Serious

Serious

Serious

So, was Jim's criticism Good Luck or Bad Luck?  In Hindsight, it was a powerful moment.  Why?  Jim's negativity caused me to re-think the nature of my book.  Jim had read a version of the story that did not contain my private thoughts.  Not once did I mention my deep-seated belief in Fate.  Nor did I explain my interest in Coincidence as a reflection of the Hidden Hand of God.  In my heart, I believed the Hidden Hand of God had temporarily prevented my car from starting.  I also believed the Cosmic Social Director had arranged my strange meeting with the Drag Queen.  For good measure, the Cosmic Social Director had directed Lynn to suggest dance lessons.  Unfortunately, for fear of scorn, I did not have the guts to write what I really believed.  People would laugh at me, dismiss me as wacko. 

That is when it occurred to me that Jim's criticism might have a Supernatural element.  I had long viewed Lynn as a Messenger.  His dance lesson suggestion was just too well-timed to be dismissed.  With that in mind, perhaps Jim was a Messenger as well.  His criticism served as a wake-up call. 

Jim had read about three events.  What would Jim say when the total reached 50 events or 60 events on the way to 100?  Looking ahead, how exactly was I going to explain my success in a career for which I was clearly ill-suited?  Should I attribute everything to hard work and the discovery of talents I never knew I had?  Or should I simply tell the truth and admit I believed God helped me every step of the way until I got established? 

That is when my Intuition spoke up.  "Rick, you need to tell the truth. Your book is worthless unless you share your belief in God." 

Was this my own mind speaking to me?  Or was this God Himself explaining that I needed to give testimony to my Faith?  Of course I will never know the true origin of that thought.  Nevertheless I decided telling the truth was the right thing to do.  As they say in murder mysteries, it was time for the accused to take the stand and plead his case.  However, there were three major problems. 

First and foremost, I would have to completely rewrite two books.  No small task.  We were talking years of effort. 

Second, the length of my book would double if I explained in detail why I thought each curious event was related to Fate and God.  

I thought about Stephen King's The Stand, one of his three top best-sellers.  King's first draft was shortened at the request of his publisher, Doubleday.  The smartest guys in the room believed the original 1,168-page manuscript was too long and too expensive to print.  Fearful that the cost and length might intimidate readers, King was ordered to cut about 400 pages, resulting in the 800-page version published in 1978.  Fortunately, the missing material was restored to a later version that was published in 1990 after King had become far more popular.  Good grief, the Magic Carpet Ride was just as long as The Stand without my weird belief system added in. 

And then there was the third problem.  Who would believe me?  Since I was a relatively obscure person, who was going to believe my tales without corroboration?  Jim had made this very clear. 

"Look, Rick, I half-believe you when you claim these stories are true, but that is only because I know you personally.  But the average reader will take one look and dismiss your stories as total bullshit.  Look at it this way.  Are you famous?  Are you Michael Jordan?  If you are Michael Jordan, people will believe anything you say.  But why should anyone believe an anonymous dance teacher no one has ever heard of?  I'm sorry, Rick, but you have a serious Credibility problem."

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

FAREWELL TO A FRIEND
 

I have a motto.  When Fate is involved, anything is possible.  If God wants my books published, then they will be publishing.  Believing that Jim Dulaney's negativity was a covert message from God to reveal my personal beliefs, I rewrote my books.  Now, however, I was facing a dilemma regarding a very important friend, Maria Ballantyne.

Mrs. Ballantyne was the undisputed star of my first book, A Simple Act of Kindness.  Her Parking Lot Intervention in 1968 saved me from the worst crisis of my life.  The circumstances surrounding her mysterious appearance that day were so unsettling, I was forced to consider the possible existence of Fate for the first time.  Ultimately, my experience felt so much like a miracle, it became the foundation of my belief in God. 

My 1968 event was followed up by an equally mysterious coincidence in 1978.  One day Mrs. B walked into my dance studio for no obvious reason.  She was just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.  Ten years had passed.  Mrs. Ballantyne was very curious to learn what happened to me after our Parking Lot conversation.  To my surprise, she invited me to her house that afternoon.  I spent nine hours at her home.  She shared the story of her life for four hours.  Then I helped her husband save their tropical plant collection from a bitter cold front.  I spent three hours on the roof helping to cover the exposed atrium with several layers of plastic.  Then I was invited to dinner as a reward.  This story was featured in the Hidden Hand of God as well as the Magic Carpet Ride. 

I did not see Mrs. Ballantyne again for 27 years.  Meanwhile she served as the inspiration for my writing career.  In 2005, Elizabeth, 9, daughter of Maria's son Christie, found my story about her grandmother on the Internet.  She immediately told Mrs. B.  Intrigued, Mrs. Ballantyne took a look.  Deeply touched by the tale of her immense impact on my life, Mrs. Ballantyne called to thank me.  We met for lunch the next day and renewed our acquaintance. 

When we met for lunch it is important to note that Mrs. Ballantyne had no idea that she and the word 'Miracle' were synonymous in my mind.  That is because I was careful to adhere to my rule:  "Do not discuss God.  Do not hint of the Supernatural."  Just tell the story and let Readers draw their own conclusion.  I did this specifically to avoid ridicule.  Look at it this way.  I ran a dance studio, not a church.  Why take a risk?  Better to swim in my own lane.

Following our 2005 visit, Mrs. Ballantyne dropped by studio along with her son Christie on two occasions, once in 2009, again in 2010.  Every time I saw her, Mrs. B would drop another bombshell.  Fascinated by new information related to my years at St. John's, each time I went back and added updates to my original 2005 story.  By the time I finished the 2010 version, the online Maria Ballantyne story was nearly the size of a book.  Here is a time line to help keep track.

I had two heroes during my childhood.  One was Maria Ballantyne.  The other was my Headmaster, E.K. Salls.  Mr. Salls was the man who secretly arranged my scholarship to college.  I never knew a thing about his involvement until Mrs. Ballantyne explained the behind-the-scenes story in 2009.  Thanks to Mrs. B, I went home and added all the kind things she had told me about Mr. Salls to her story on my SSQQ website. 

In late 2014, Kim Salls contacted me.  Identifying himself as the son of my former Headmaster, Kim Salls explained he had run across my warm story about his father on the Internet.  Kim wanted to thank me in person for my thoughtfulness, so we met for coffee.  Kim revealed his father's difficult childhood circumstances.  His father had grown up dirt poor on a small island named Vinalhaven off the coast of Maine.  After his younger brother died, Mr. Salls was an only child.  Then his father died when Mr. Salls was a teenager, leaving little in savings behind.  His mother was so destitute that Mr. Salls had to work jobs after school to help pay the bills.  Mr. Salls was a brilliant student.  After graduating from his local high school, he earned a scholarship to Philips Exeter, the famous prep school attended by several U.S. Presidents.  Thanks to his time at Exeter, Mr. Salls was able to obtain a full scholarship to Harvard.

We don't have time to review my childhood issues, so just take my word for it that my childhood problems were identical to Mr. Salls.  In addition, my childhood problems ran a close parallel to that of Maria Ballantyne.  In 1968 Mrs. B had taken an interest in me specifically because I reminded her of similar problems growing up.  Now I understood why Mrs. Ballantyne said I reminded Mr. Salls of himself.  Seeing me struggle reminded him of his own struggles.  Recalling how scholarships had been instrumental in rescuing him from childhood poverty, Mr. Salls decided to bestow the favor of a college scholarship on me.  The word 'Weird' crossed my mind.  I was struck by how unusual it was that all three of us had grown up poor.  And all three of us had been the recipients of incredible strokes of good fortune.  It was strange enough that three underdogs ended up at St. John's, land of the high and mighty.  It was even stranger that these same three people became intimately connected to each other.  Our mysterious three-way connection convinced me that 'Fate' was involved. 

My gratitude towards Mrs. Ballantyne and Mr. Salls was overwhelming.  I felt humbled to know that these important people had gone far out of their way to give me a fighting chance in life.  However, now I faced a dilemma.  Due I continue to omit my belief in Fate from their Internet stories?  Or do I go tell it on a mountain?  Let me explain.  Thanks to Jim Dulaney, my two books were written in Mystical form.  Since they were unpublished, I was spared criticism for the time being.  However, the E.K. Salls-Maria Ballantyne on my website was written in Realistic form.  I was dying to add the Fateful revelations shared by Kim Salls to my story, but hesitated.  Did I have the right to add the suspected Supernatural element of my relationship to Mr. Salls and Mrs. Ballantyne? 

After much debate, I gave in.  My updated Maria Ballantyne story contained references to Fate, God and the possibility of Divine Intervention.  No doubt there would be critics who would ridicule my mystical mumbo jumbo.  Others would challenge my right to speak of metaphysical things about which I knew little.  And of course there would be snickers about my sanity.  However, my conscience said it would be dishonest to remain quiet about my mystical beliefs.  So I laid it all out for all the world to see.  Now for the first time, my ever-evolving Maria Ballantyne book crossed the Supernatural barrier.  I was glad.  It was the right thing to do. 

Only one thing... I had not published the update yet.  I felt a strong desire to get her permission before taking such a radical step.  I had not seen Mrs. Ballantyne for five years.  Would she approve of my changes?  So far the only thing she had read were the highly-sanitized, non-Supernatural versions of the 1968 Parking Lot event plus things she had told me about Mr. Salls.  Mrs. B had no inkling of the recent draft that revealed my unusual beliefs.  How would Mrs. Ballantyne feel about being included in a book which covered controversial territory such as Divine Intervention?  There was a chance she would rather not to be associated with my far-out ideas.  Preferring not to blindside my friend, I decided Mrs. Ballantyne deserved the right to express her opinion.  The time had come to go see her.

When I contacted her son Christie, he shared some alarming news.  His mother was not doing well.  It was touch and go.  If I wanted to talk to her, now was the time.  Using her son as an intermediary, I received permission to visit her house on Tuesday morning, January 20.  I was very tense as I drove to her house.  What would I do if Mrs. Ballantyne objected?  In addition I was sad to learn my aging friend was in poor health.  This was no surprise.  After all, the lady was 94.  At that age, something was bound to go wrong.  With a heavy heart, I feared this would be the last time I would ever see her.  I was greeted at the door by a maid.  Ushered in, I found Mrs. Ballantyne sitting at the dining table.  Although I was glad to see her, I was alarmed to discover Christie's warning about her increasing frailty was correct.  Alas, the seemingly indestructible Maria Ballantyne was human after all. 

Fortunately, her mind was still sharp.  Mrs. Ballantyne recognized me immediately and gave me a warm smile.  Her first words were, "Rick Archer, I know you!  You were in Katina's class at St. John's!" 

I was happy to see her in a good mood.  Mrs. Ballantyne always had the knack to make me feel like the most important person in the world.  Determined to know if she had any objections, it was now or never.  Taking a deep breath, I spoke up.

"Mrs. Ballantyne, I am not sure what Christie told you, but I came here today to ask your permission to tell the story of your difficult childhood as well as the circumstances of our parking lot meeting.  As you recall, back in 2005 I wrote an Internet story about the time you came to my rescue.  I am sure you had a million important things to do on the day you came to my grocery store, but you had the empathy to stay with me until you were sure I was past my crisis.  I have long believed that your life and mine are linked in a special way by Fate.  I have written an updated story that reflects my belief that God led you to my side.  I would very much like to tell the world why you are so important to me."

Mrs. Ballantyne smiled.  Without hesitation, she replied, "Yes, Rick, I remember your story well.  It was a very nice story, so of course you have my permission." 

As she spoke, Mrs. Ballantyne had that familiar twinkle in her eye.  But then her expression suddenly changed to a frown.  Uh oh.  Obviously something upsetting had crossed her mind.  Mrs. Ballantyne's brow furrowed as she said, "But only on one condition!"

I stopped breathing.  With my heart thumping wildly with anxiety, I asked myself what could it be.  Mrs. Ballantyne was the star of my Mysticism-based book!!  I would die if she said no.