2018: The Year of Exploration

2018's Tune of the Year, from the new artist duo made up of Ciaran McAuley and Roxanne Emery, Holy Waters, this is Amsterdam, the Amir Hussain Remix.

ex·plo·ra·tion

/ˌekspləˈrāSH(ə)n/

noun: the action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area in order to learn about it.

        Here we are, once again. It's time to start a new year, one that holds the promise of new opportunities, challenges, and a whole lot of unknowns. But before diving fully into what comes next, I feel it's always a good idea to reflect on what has been. This is my sixth year-in-review blog post and it's something I look forward to, as I write down my final thoughts on the year gone by and commit fully to what lies ahead. 

        Looking at my 2018, it was one of exploration on many fronts. This started right away with the prep for and launch of the massive episode 50 of my For the Soul show. I knew I wanted to make this event a true landmark, so I decided to change my artist name from DJ Adaman to Frost, which is much more professional and fits my love of winter well. With the help of a few key friends, I was also able to update my official show and artist logos, add in voiceovers beyond my own, and I had an interview with the guy who has supported the show with his guest mixes since the early days. It's hard to believe that episode 60 will be released in a couple weeks, marking 5 years of me producing this monthly show. And while I didn't perform a live DJ show in 2018 as I had hoped, I practiced mixing live sets and I look forward to playing a live show soon. As always, trance music continues to be a core part of me and the lifeblood that keeps me going amidst the madness of this world.

        My next area of exploration came with my work, but not in the sense that I got a new job. I decided in the first couple months of the year to enroll in a program with an organization called Mission Collaborative, through which I spent 5 weeks deep diving into who I am, what my strengths are, and what's a good fit for me for my career. I left the program with solid connections, a deeper self-understanding, and ultimately a path to aim for as my next step. Although I haven't taken that step yet, I did make a step up by earning a promotion in my current organization. My career will be a major area of focus in 2019, but I know that many of the incremental actions that I took in 2018 have prepared me to make my next move.

        The biggest areas of exploration for my came in exploring more of the good ol' US of A. Immediately following my work's annual conference, I took a two-week solo trip out west and it was incredible and new in so many ways. My first stop was Denver, where I spent 5 days with one of my Navs mentors from undergrad, Nick, his wife Age, and their dog Procy. We kicked the visit off by going to a Rockies game, where I got to watch the sun set behind the mountains, which was quite the site. During the rest of my time there, I visited Navs HQ, checked out the house of the famous Titanic survivor Molly Brown, enjoyed a day at Elitch Gardens theme park, saw the Denver Mint in action, summitted Mount Evans, rode the historic Georgetown Loop train, and celebrated the Caps Stanley Cup victory. After Denver, I headed further west, out to San Francisco. During my 4 days there, I walked the Golden Gate Bridge, stood in awe of the massive redwood trees at Muir Woods, ventured through Alcatraz, rode the historic cable cars, and had a blast at an antique arcade where I even made a friend who was also solo exploring. But even after all that, I still wasn't done, as I then headed just a bit east and spent 3 days exploring the Las Vegas strip and some of the areas beyond it. My first day was spent taking a bus tour out to the Grand Canyon, and I have to say, it was the most surreal experience with nature I've ever had. Having just been up at 14k feet on Mount Evans a week earlier, seeing what looked like a massive inversed mountain range was simply breathtaking. For my two remaining days in Vegas, I checked out the fake Eiffel Tower, explored the Mob Museum and the surrounding original downtown Vegas area, enjoyed a series of shows, tested my luck in the casinos, and, of course, checked yet another Titanic-related goal off my list by visiting an incredible artifact exhibit, one that included an actual piece of the great ship's hull. Overall, I learned a great deal about myself and I had a blast packing my days with everything I could at each location, challenging myself to get it all done. 

Nick and I making the pilgrimage to Navs HQ, home to the organization that brought us together in undergrad

The view from 14k feet at the summit of Mount Evans

Golden Gate glory

Standing on the edge of the sheer vastness that is the Grand Canyon

Welcome to Vegas

        As the fall came, the months seemed to roll by. There were a few major events, one being my volunteering for Washingcon, a weekend board game convention in Georgetown that was packed with more games and players in one room than I had ever seen. In October, I went to a panel event at the National Geographic museum that was led by the man who discovered the Titanic back in 1985, Dr. Robert Ballard. I have to say, after having seen him in countless documentaries from my childhood on, getting to meet him face to face and have him sign two of his Titanic books that my mom got for me for Christmas when I was 7, was unreal. It's a strange feeling, having just about completed all of my childhood Titanic related goals over these past few years, but there are still a couple of major ones left that will be the hardest to complete of them all. 

Meeting the Titanic discoverer himself, Dr. Robert Ballard

        Finally, my favorite month, December, came and it was packed from start to finish. I took another solo trip, this time down to Orlando, where I saw all of the major attractions beyond the Disney World experience that Tyler and I did a few years ago. This included checking out both Universal parks, convincing myself that it was fine to be at the Aquatica water park in December with Christmas music playing, trying to accomplish way more than I possibly could in a day at the Kennedy Space Center, and finally, enjoying one show after another with various sea creatures at Sea World. Upon returning home, I shifted into Christmas mode, making all of my usual goodies while watching my favorite holiday movies. With the way things were this year, my main Christmas activities happened the first weekend of January of 2019, but I did enjoy an afternoon of lunch and a movie with my dad on Christmas day. I closed out 2018 with Tyler, who visited for a few days. During his visit, we made a St. Mary's stuffed ham, spent time with my church buddies, and traveled down to the county to attend both of my usual New Year's Eve parties. I'm sad to say that after reclaiming my Serb's New Year's Eve spoons crown last year, this time I was knocked out at 5th place, ensuring that I'll be back next year to try to reclaim the crown once again.

The Harry Potter castle at Universal, transformed by an incredible Christmas themed projection show at night.

The Kennedy Space Center...notice how their sign matches my theme?

Space Shuttle Atlantis on full open display at the KSC

Dolphins at Sea World

Waiting for someone to toss him more fish, which people were paying for the ability to do

The whales say hello

Manatees...they're basically underwater blimps

        Through all of these experiences and others that I haven't written about here, 2018 truly was a year of exploration for me, both internally and externally. I'm taking a solid step into 2019, ready for change in so many ways, with written S.M.A.R.T. goals to make it all happen. I have a feeling this next year will truly expand my understanding of a lot of things. As always, I believe it's important to reflect back and remember how one got to where they are. I'm hopeful that we as a country, and really, as a world, can reflect on this past year and use it as the fuel to take progressive steps forward into a future that's focused on love rather than hate, and to pursue what's right and true when so much seems to be wrong and filled with lies. But, one thing I've learned from reading various books, and my understanding of how life works, is that hope alone is not a strategy. In order to improve and grow in any of our lives, we must proactively take steps to do so, working as though it depends on us while praying as though it depends on God. So, remember that while reflecting on your past and looking towards your future is critical in building the life that you want to have, you have to start somewhere, and that often is with just a thought.