2016: The Year of Challenge

Kicking things off with my newly crowned #1 track of 2016, this is Reckless, the Standerwick remix, from Gareth Emery:

     Here we are, launching into the new year after the wild ride that was 2016. A lot can be said about what happened nationally within this past year, but most of it you're probably tired of hearing about. For me, this year included some changes that I had been working towards, some I wasn't expecting, and some that never seemed to come together through faults of my own as well as those of others. I love to start off these annual posts by looking back at the previous year, seeing what challenges I said I had faced the year before and checking to see what I accomplished out of the things I had hoped to do. With these things in mind, I look ahead towards the year to come while aiming to keep a good perspective on the year I'm leaving behind.

     The year started out first off by living in a new place. I had to head out of Matt and Alyssa's with them having another kid arriving soon, so I found myself a room down the road in a house near the Greenbelt metro. The location was good because it still gave me quick access to the highway for my current work commute, while also being forward looking as I aimed at my next work destination. The other good part of this came a couple weeks after I left, when my new nephew Parran entered the world. Parran seems to always be smiling and just happy to be around people, as long as someone is looking at him. Seriously, check this kid out:

     As the first half of the year rolled along, things were mostly the same until April came around. Shortly after my 25th birthday at the end of March, I made my way through three rounds of interviews and earned my way into a new position in the non-profit sector with an organization named US SIF. The role itself is still entry level, but the organization's mission is one that I'm really on board with, having the understanding that I do of the financial sector and the real large-scale impact it can have on creating positive change (check out of our mission here).  So, two years to the day after I started working for Coastal, I announced that I was leaving, and I placed my last orders and headed out two weeks later. Now, instead of racing up and down I-95 daily to order a whole lot of produce, I walk over and hop on the Metro to do my part in making a positive impact for my generation and those to come. If you'd like to know more about how you too can put your money where your mouth is, so to speak, assuming you'd like do your part in creating meaningful change, let me know and I'll be happy to chat with you about it. Really, it mostly involves something you're already probably doing but may not realize how you can do it to help others. The shift has been substantial and I'm excited to see where it leads me in 2017.

     As many of you, my readers, know, I was a part of the 5th generation of my family to have grown up on our special piece of land in St. Mary's County. One of the major goals that has been in the works for quite some time has been the transition of the land I grew up on from my father's ownership to me. After having to clear several hurdles along the way, the transfer was finally completed around the mid part of this past year and I am now a home/land owner. My father has spent the past couple of years living next door in what was his parents house, where he grew up, so I'm renting out what is now my house in order to keep itself going. The idea there is that I may be back there someday, but for now things are staying in stasis mode. 

     My faith continued to remain strong throughout this past year, as I joined in with weekly studies through Nav20s and my church, and I spent a lot of time with my fellow church-goers as my main community. I made strides towards following Christ through many different aspects of my life, and I continue to learn more about how to proceed correctly all the time. The same question I had last year, wondering why we're still here, still remains on my mind, but I live knowing I may not get a real solid answer on this side of eternity. My faith played a role, as I believe it should, in trying to sort through the madness that was this past election cycle, and now I'll have to remain focused on it as we as a nation try to move forward and heal our divides. I do hope to work towards continuing my faith-related 'what and why' mission that has been dormant for a while, but that's going to take some dedication from me as well as the involvement of others.

     My love for trance music grew even stronger this past year (if that's possible), as I went to several concerts, continued along with my monthly show, and started listening to so many professional DJ podcasts that I have a hard time keeping up with them all. In regards to my own show, I celebrated the 30th episode a few months back and just released the episode that I love putting together the most, the top tracks of the year show. As you can hopefully tell from the song I have posted at the top of this post, 2016 was an incredible year for trance, but I encourage you to take a listen to my top-12 countdown and hear it for yourself. I didn't gain as much ground as I had hoped to this past year in terms of working on doing live DJing, but I'm going to continue to work towards it in 2017. I did have the incredible experience of having one of my favorite artist duos somehow spot me in the crowd at one of their shows and wave at me while shouting out my name. I stuck around after the show to chat with them about all things trance and grab a picture with them, as shown below. Overall, trance music has grown even more into the lifeblood that keeps me going and the fuel that gives me my un-ending energy. 

     

     It seems that it has become a new tradition for Tyler and I to take an annual adventure together somewhere, and this year we headed north for my first trip out of the US. We headed up to Toronto for the first half of the week, celebrating Tyler's b-day at the science center, standing way above the ground at the incredible CN tower, exploring the halls of Casa Loma, and seeing various other places in the downtown area. The second half of the week was my favorite part of the trip, as we ventured to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and got to stand in sheer awe of the 700,000 gallons of water/second that is constantly being dumped over the falls. We saw them from above, below, and along side, as we took part in almost every tourist attraction that we could. The downtown area in Niagara was a lot of fun as well, as we got to ride a giant Ferris wheel, play some dino mini golf, and have a blast figuring out how to actually win the arcade. We made our way back after a week of fun, even getting to fly on the same plane together back to Baltimore, and it certainly was an adventure I'll never forget.

     The final months of 2016 didn't have too much in the way of anything notable for me, others than riding on the same roller coaster ride that everyone seemed to be on as election day came and went. My thoughts in that regard are twofold. One is that despite the results, I'm looking further ahead and seeing where my generation (including myself) is going to lead us, and that future looks bright. Second is that my thought, that my generation is going to differ from our parents generation by creating positive change despite the government rather than through it, seems to be becoming more of a reality all the time. I guess we'll have to see how it all plays out in 2017, while remembering that our society wasn't built for us to be passive observers but one where we the people got involved and made ourselves known. My role as someone looking to lead and to bring people together by bridging the gaps and aiming towards the future seemed to guide my actions right up through year's end.

     I called 2016 the year of challenge because I seemed to face a lot of it, some of it being self-imposed and the rest of it being brought upon me by others. I challenged myself in this past year to be a better listener, to try new things and go to new places, and to try and figure out what I want to do with my life. I faced the challenge of moving to a new place, of leaving one job and starting another, and of taking on the responsibilities of being a landlord. However, just because 2016 and its challenges are over, doesn't mean 2017 won't bring its own fresh set. But, as I've learned even more about myself this past year in regards to how I take on goals and the competitive like nature of facing a challenge, I'll be ready to face them head on by starting with just a thought.