Best Year Ever?

I played an Auggie Stardust show last Saturday night. It was a benefit for flood relief here in Nashville. A lot of people came out to show there support and see some live music. We raised over $1100 that night and I also discovered some great new local music. Go check out Chip Greene and watch his video for "Everything About You." It's a great song.

At the end of the night I was talking to a friend about nothing in particular, just catching up. When the music ended I decided to leave. As I was saying goodbye to Jax he stopped and with a big smile said, "One last question: is 2010 the best year ever?"

I had to take a moment to think about this. I'm not sure why he asked this question but I have to say it has been the most consistently good year of my life. If you'd asked me a few years ago if I would ever have another year like this one I would have told you that those days are far behind me. It's funny how each decade of my life seems to get better toward the end. It's true that I still have a few years left before the end of my fourth decade on this planet but things seem to be moving in a very positive direction.

So far in 2010 I have come to terms with who I am and where I am in life. I've gotten back into some semblance of my former physical shape. I've played a lot of music. That one has been the big thing. I gave up on music several years ago and sold most of my equipment. I announced my retirement on my former blog and shut off the light on that part of my life. Simply put, I had fallen out of love with music. But this year I was forced out of retirement and well, dammit I've fallen back in love with music. And I've had plenty of encouragement from my friends to keep me from getting complacent with doing one show then riding that high for the next few years.

I can say that being sober for the first five months of 2010 has been very enlightening. I feel good. I hadn't felt good in many years prior to sobering up. Not having that distraction in my life has helped me focus on changing other aspects of my life that I had been neglecting. I've also started to feel real emotions again. I forgot how good they feel. Even the bad ones. It's amazing how much joy you lose when you let a foreign substance dictate how you feel.

Those are just a few of the things that 2010 has brought to me so far. There is still a lot of year to go but after thinking about it for a few days I have to say, "Yes!! So far 2010 has been the best year ever."