Today’s Video Story was collected on the 50-state Story Tour. Check out the blog where you can follow us on our adventure. If you haven’t submitted a story yet to IFD, or if you want to submit another one, I’d love to read and publish it. Write one up and send it in.

My name’s Kevin Farrell and I’m from Black Rock City, Nevada. I grew up a foster kid and lived everywhere. And Black Rock City, where Burning Man happens, is the first place I ever really felt like home. And it’s the first place I ever really felt like myself. It’s ironic because at Burning Man you don’t even use your real name. So your first year that you’re there someone give you your “playa” name, and I had tripped over this piece of rebar and it got stuck in my calf and it was disgusting and pussy – so someone named me Stab Wound my first year, and it wasn’t until I heard that name “Stab Wound” that I just felt such confidence, such bravery in my life which is so weird and in addition to finding myself I found my soon to be husband there. We’re are at this super gay dance club, out doors, called Pink Mammoth, and its just pink, and there’s pink ribbons, and people in pink, and if you’re not wearing pink, they will come and crucify you, and spray paint pink on you, and you just better be in pink. And my friends and I while were there, were playing this game – Your Team, My Team – you see someone you liked, “ooh my team.” You see someone you didn’t like “your team.” And I saw this guy across the dance floor, dust is blowing and everyone is half naked and I see this guy in a red bandanna and a gauze loin cloth, and I turned to my friend and I said, “Ooh, my team. Captain of my team.” And I just marched right up to him, cause at Burning Man that’s what you’re supposed to do, you’re supposed to talk to everyone that you want to, you are so brave while you are there, and I walked right up to him and tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I’m such a fan.” And we both just started cracking up laughing – and we laughed and we laughed and we laughed. A couple minutes later maybe, this other guy walked up to us and said, “Oh, so you’ve met my boyfriend, today’s actually our one year anniversary. And I was just like “Uh, man.” But I just puffed myself back up again and said, “Do you guys want to go on a date tonight?” And my, Nick, my guy, said, “Yes!” Just in a heartbeat. And his boyfriend at the time said, “Weren’t you listening, I said, today is our anniversary.” And I said, “Weren’t you listening? Do you guys want to go on a date tonight?” And Nick again was like, “Yes, yes, we do!” And so, his boyfriend said yes as well. So I didn’t even know what the hell I was doing, I knew I liked this guy, so we walked a scale model of the solar system for our very first date. We started at the sun and it was about the size of this room, it was humongous, it was like thirty feet in diameter and it was lit up like a giant ball of fire and incrementally for about 3 miles out into the desert there was another planet and they were lit up, and so for eight hours we just walked the solar system. We started the sun, and ended up with Pluto at sunrise, and just laying underneath of it, under all of these little planets – I just stopped at each one and talked. It was fantastic, and beautiful, and I just knew that was it, that was it right there. So I left Burning Man, I got back to Seattle and wrote him a love letter, cause we had gotten each others email addresses and a week in half later – he was here. And he and his boyfriend at the time ended up, breaking up, and feelings were hurt at the time but, you know, a year later we’ve seen each other, made amends, and everything is good. He’s just obviously, the person for me, and I found him in the place, where I am my most authentic self, and so it’s no wonder that I attracted the exact perfect match for myself there. And they call it manifesting at Burning Man – put it out there, put out what you’re looking for and it comes back to you.