Westin Holiday Party

Zack and I were asked to do this gig the day before. I was feeling angry going into the gig. This would be my 6th gig in 7 days and I was looking forward to taking the day off. But, it is a gig. How can I say no? It's money. It's a gig. It's what I do. It's in my blood. I had been trying to shove that anger down inside and push through the gig. I noticed I was doing this and if I let it continue I wouldn't have any fun on the gig and probably would have tanked it. So I talked it out with Zack. Just said everything that was on my mind and let it all out. All my reactivity and reasons for doing this gig and all the reasons why I could have said no. It felt like a huge release. It helped clear my head and really be at the gig. I started having more fun, playing good songs. We were warned about the crowd not being a dancing crowd, but they ended up dancing. Probably because I cleared my head. This was Zack's first gig, and there was some fear about expressing my resentments towards the gig with him. I have this image in my head that a good deejay will always feel great about their gigs and want to be there. If I shared my feelings with him, would he still respect me? I took the risk to expose my true feelings about the gig and it paid off. What I learned was that if I don't want to be somewhere, I can express it (not complain about it) to free myself up to then WANT to be there. I think it's also being honest about it. This is where I take the complaining piece out. What did I choose? I chose to be here, but because of this, this, and this. Oh. Okay. I could be doing this, this, and this, but I still chose to be here. So how can I make my experience here meaningful and fun and exciting?...(continue conversation with self until the desired outcome has been met)

Zack was the FASTEST person to break down the equipment after an event. He also played on the decks a little bit and gave song suggestions throughout the night. He's a fast learner and I can't wait to see where he goes.

--Jonathan Hood, resident dj