Here, again, we arrive at the time of the year when I decide to spill out a bit of documentary about the life I have experienced since last I undertook this particular endeavor. I hope I don't run through too many words as dryly as I am often prone to do... this is, after all, intended to be more for the people of my life that actually care about me more than it is for my own self-indulgent satisfaction of expression(because I do actually enjoy writing about myself, in a somewhat narcissistic way... I guess... I think it's fun to examine my own life, so sue me! Ha).
Starting with a comment about life at the present, I will say this: Life has never been better! And now I will write the strange tale of the year that led up to that particular statement.
The early part of the year was nothing too fancy or unusual. School was on par, work was moving smoothly along, and my social life was in roughly the same shape is usually is. There was an unexpected moment of girl interest that was pleasantly motivating for the brief time that it lasted(which has been sadly rare in my life over the last several years) but life in general was moving right along as usual so you'll hear no complaints from me. Good times always come with bad times, they say.
Then, in early March, life gets pretty interesting. My Pops had himself a birthday heart attack/stroke and nearly found his one-way ticket to the other side. It was a challenging time for the whole family. It was a solid reminder of the fragility of life, the impermanence of things we often take for granted, and the true value of the people we love.
I was also invited into a band called Bes around that time of year. I get the distinct privilege of playing(and I use that word to its fullest sense) the bass amongst a delightful array of harmonic musical expressions. The band leader is a refreshingly motivated fellow who loves to get out there and perform a lot so we have made quite a few trips(probably a dozen or so) into the world to display our musical wares ever since we joined forces. It is a great opportunity to improve an art I have too often overlooked over the years. Beautiful music is a beautiful thing to experience.
Rolling on into the summer time things seemed to be returning to "normal" as much as life declares it as such. This was a very short-lived moment, however, as I very unexpectedly lost my awesome job as a driver's ed instructor(I was fired because I forgot to pay off a fix-a-ticket, which I fixed... but forgot to pay off) and simultaneously came down with some sort of illness which made itchy, painful blisters appear all over my hands for a couple weeks or so. The doctor I saw didn't really know what it was but the medication he prescribed seemed to have a slowly improving effect on it which made it go away, for the most part. This was a tremendously rough spot in life which extended out for a month or two or three, as it was quite difficult to find any suitable replacement work and my finances took a fairly massive blow to the face.
It took about a month or so to find some part-time work at the school that I attend, but it is a great job for many reasons even though it does very little to match up to the money I was making at my prior job. Through the people I have met there, and the sheer nature of being at the school much more than I normally am, I have been led to many opportunities I would not have found in any other way. Opportunities which might shape my future in a more positive way than I might have every found at my prior job.
One example of the great opportunities I mentioned would be the help of the career services folks who led me to my second part-time job at UPS. If you know anything about UPS you know it is a great company to work for and, after a year of working there, I will get full benefits at no extra cost even though I am only a part-time employee. This is tremendously awesome since I have not had any benefits for well over a decade and I definitely feel the need to have them! The hours never conflict with anything else I would like to do in life(school, another job, play, etc) and if I am diligent and hard-working I can see staying there long enough to pay off all my student loans before moving on into my chosen profession.
Another example is the opportunity to help form the "Digital Media Production Club" at the school centering around the program of study I am in for the degree I am studying to obtain. Through this opportunity I have already established great connections to people in the industry(which is almost more important than the education itself) and will definitely make many more important connections as we reach out to improve the student body who is interested in taking advantage of what the club can offer. I am quite excited to see what can become of this club and expect many great things in the year to come.
It has been a fairly challenging year. I have been on more of an emotional roller coaster than I am used to experiencing but would not really have it any other way. The things I have learned are a tremendous blessing and the benefits of surviving such challenges definitely outweigh the costs. The people of my life have been the greatest support a person could hope to have! I am quite selfishly happy to have you all in my life! My heart simply feels inadequate to contain all of the love I feel for you all!
I testify that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father who is highly invested in each one of His children, despite what we may think about His involvement in our lives. None of us can stray beyond His unending love for us. He NEVER gives up on us, even though He alone knows exactly where we have decided we are heading, even if that direction is directly away from Him. He can, and will, send us all help he is allowed to send us if we ever make ANY attempts to find out way back to Him. I am so grateful for this knowledge and hope you all can come to know it as I do, if you do not already, as it is one of the greatest blessings of my life. My love for you is a blessing from Him above and I hope I can do better in my attempts to express that love to you in the future!
Thank you all for being you! Merry Christmas and I hope your new year is as splendid as you need it to be! Big-time digital hugs to you all!
Warmest regards,
Aaron M. Castillo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment