Know It All

As an 18 year old senior at Constantine High School, I knew it all... I was legally an adult, I had a job, I had chosen a career path, I could vote, I had a license; there was no more to know or learn. Right? That's what I though at least. I quickly learned how much more existed as I embarked on a new journey to a public university. Living away from home, cooking, cleaning, making all my own decisions. Essentially living life with little to no supervision. Freshmen year at Ferris State definitely taught me that there was more to the world and more to myself than I had thought. The following three years at Ferris were much the same. Every year I seemed to gain exponential knowledge and realization of how little I had actually known prior. Surely by now, after four years from home, nearing the end of my degree, and having traveled around the state and midwest (with Saraph) I had a much better understanding of what the "big picture" is all about.
I left college early to pursue touring with my band full time. We performed in 13 states, traveling through nearly 20, booking, managing, promoting, EVERYthing in house. It taught me a great deal about responsibility, chasing your dreams, hard work, business, and more than anything, it taught me a great deal about me. It was my first real taste of the "world." Although it was a very small, tiny taste, it was more than enough to provoke my insatiable hunger for travel, adventure, and the experience of new things.
A year or so later, I returned to school after mixed feelings of heavy travel arose within the band. I obviously was ready to be a road warrior, other not so much. I don't feel angry or remorse towards this person or their opinions in the least. It's a long and grueling life, it's not for everyone, but I wouldn't stop my chase.
Nearly a year later, Pop Evil called. It presented me the opportunity of being on the road for 300 days a year, for a living! My life in Grand Rapids was great at the time. I had a steady job, I LOVE Grand Rapids to this day, and I was learning about a lot of my other hobbies in interests. Grand Rapids was essentially a city of growth and coming to terms with me, so lets rewind and touch on this...
Grand Rapids was a city I learned about "cities" in, it sparked my interest and educated me in craftbeer, food, and wine, it pushed me out of my little box and awoke my internal entrepreneur, it's also the city I met and networked with Pop Evil in. In so many ways, Grand Rapids has made me who I am today. So needless to say, leaving wasn't that easy... or was it.
It was the opportunity of my lifetime; so with 30 hours notice, no sense of their songs or how to play to a click live, I took the job.
That was nearly two years ago now and a lot has changed, but some things haven't changed. Some things have only made themselves more clear and more prevalent in my life. I'm even more enthused with beer, foods and wines, more fixated on fashion, and more business minded than ever before. Something else has remained the same also, my knowledge and experiences have continued to grow at an exponential rate. Ever year since my 18th birthday, I look back at the year before and think to myself "I can not BELIVE how much I've learned in 12 months." This happens ALL THE TIME. I frequently will challenge myself to learn something new on a daily basis; a new book, new beer, reading online, visiting new websites, reading the news, SOMETHING new. After I do this, I'll pause and try to summarize the past year and look back and I'm absolutely floored by how little I knew last year. We never stop being students. Embrace this. Take it for all you can, learn so much you forget things. Never stop growing as a person, it's an essential part of growing, maturing and learning about yourself. Teaching yourself new things also reflects back on you and teaches you about yourself, and that's important. Take a chance, everyday if you can, and remember to Laugh, Learn, Love and Live.