New Year Reflections

While opening a new calendar is a great time for reflection, I’m not going to try and sell you on some cheesy “resolutions” type post.  If you’re looking for that, you came to the wrong blog.  Instead, I like to take a more pragmatic approach.  Reflection, goal setting, and resolutions should be a continuous process that happens more often than just at the beginning of a new year.  That said, there is no day like the present to embark on such a journey.  I penned this short poem earlier this afternoon as I was pondering that very thing.

A new year does not a new you make.
So quit slacking, silly, don’t be fake.
Should you wish to change, that’s great
For you alone control your fate.

Weight loss, college, that work life too,
Goals are things one must pursue.
Commit today to make the change
That life you lead, to rearrange.

A new you can be born today
You needn’t wait till March or May.
The trials, they’ll come, the heartbreak too.
You need only pick yourself up and be true.

True to the person you can become
True to your potential, get off yer bum.
It all begins right now, right here.
“I will succeed, I will not fear.”

Looking Back at Last Year

Twothousandfifteen.  Duemilaquindici.  Another year is in the books, locked away only in memory.  Some would say it was the greatest year of their lives after experiencing weddings, engagements, new jobs, and graduations.  For others, it was a year of divorce, heartbreak, misery, loss, and sadness.  If you’re like me, 2015 fell somewhere in between those two extremes.  If you want a recap on my year, hit up my personal facebook page or twitter where you can stalk me to your heart’s content.  Otherwise, here’s a few highlights:

• Attending/Working a MASSIVE amount of shows.
  • Lindsey Stirling (3x)
  • City of Trees (Cake, Of Monsters and Men, James Bay, Borns, Elle King, Halsey, Night Riots)
  • Little Mix
  • TBD Fest
  • Twenty One Pilots (2x)
  • Melanie Martinez
  • The Maine
  • Cap City Concert (Third Eye Blind, Nate Reusse)
  • Jingle Ball (Tori Kelly, Kalin & Myles, Flo Rida, Travis Mills, Daya, Alessia Cara)
  • Electric Christmas (Bastille, Robert DeLong, Cold War Kids, Saint Motel, Marian Hill)
• Travel to Kansas City for Cousin’s Graduation
• Graduation from College
• Travel to Spain, Italy, France, and Monaco
• Purchased a New Car in November
• Purchased ANOTHER new car in December – long story for another time.

All in all, it was a crazy and exhausting year.

Looking Forward – The Time To Begin Is Now

Too often I observe friends and family push off till tomorrow what they could begin today.  “I’m starting my diet, tomorrow.”  “Someday I’ll travel to India.”  “Next year I want to go back to school.”  Many of these postponements are until that mystical “new year.” Granted, some people do have a legitimate reason why they can’t begin to change today, and that’s okay.  For others, the change is pushed off out of fear, discomfort, or laziness.  It is to those people I address my remarks.

Like I highlighted at the end of my poem, “It all begins right now, right here.”

My Goals for the Year 2016

For the sake of being transparent, here are some of the things I wish to accomplish this next year.  Some of them have been on my mind for a while, others are new.

• Successfully migrate into a new career that is more aligned with my degree.
• Grow SantSound, my audio services company, by an additional two events (or more) per quarter.
• Establish a home of my own, a space free of distractions and outside drama.
• Not allow the negative thoughts, behaviors and opinions of others to influence my happiness and wellbeing.
• Embark on one trip per month to explore the world around me.
• Visit friends in Germany before they return to the United States this summer.
• Pick up three new countries on my passport.
• Make someone smile daily.
• Learn to accept myself, flaws and all.

Your Turn

What are your wishes for 2016?  Think about them?  If you want me to help hold you accountable, comment on Facebook or on Twitter and let me know.  Whatever it is you wish to accomplish, I hope you reach that goal.  Happy 2016, friends.  Go make it great!