Happy Bday To Me: Year In Review

Its funny. I remember back when I was about 18 or 19, an informal prophet came up to me and stated that my life was going to change dramatically between then and the age of 24. Being young, you receive those words, but continue to move on with your life. With that being said, nothing really happened between then and my 24th bday, so I'll move forward. So now I'll break down my 24th bday. Hold on for the ride:



New Experiences:

So shortly after my 24th bday, I ventured into the vocal competition space. I entered into the Verizon Wireless "How Sweet the Sound" competition with this choir I sing with. Cutting to the chase, that was a great experience. Met Donald Lawrence, Hezekiah Walker, Marvin Sapp, and CeCe Winans. That was a wonderful experience. I also had the opportunity to play in the Gospel Musical space as well. I enjoyed that, it was fun, but I probably wont be doing that again for a while..lol. Just to Much going. I also went on my first cruise...that was probably the most fun I had all year!!! And I went with my boonopolous, so that was great. I should probably devote some time to talking about the woman of my dreams, but I'll hold off to a later blog for that one...lol smiley face... Anywho, that brings me to May....



The Life Changer:

I still remember it vividly. I was at church rehearsing with the men's choir at First Baptist Church. I saw that my mom had called about 4 times, so I made it a point to call her back. She told me that my Dad was in the hospital, but that everything was okay. She had spoken to him, and he said he'd probably be released the next day. So me being the person I am, I prayed about it and went on with my day. Went home...went to sleep. Woke up the next morning to the most unforgettable call ever. It was a call from a friend of mine that just simply said: "Sorry for your loss." Those words have rang in my mind ever since. My Father passed away on May 14, 2009. I still struggle to talk about this....



Light in the Midst of Darkness:

From the moments after my Dad's death until now, my life has been in overdrive. Since then, I've had the opportunity to go to the 75th anniversary of the Apollo where I was in the same room as such stars like Jamie Foxx, Pattie Labelle, Mariah Carey, Bill Cosby, and my favorite, Prince. I also had the opportunity to meet Ankh Ra (the Vocal Coach from Diddy's Making the Band 4 (with Day 26)). Since then I've been seeing Mr. Ankh for Vocal lessons and he's been challenging me ever since. I've experienced much growth that has served as the catalyst to my next plateau in life.



25:

As I've reached my quarter-life point, I plan to continue the fastpaced growth and development plan I've been on. There will be some changes...there will be some areas where I strengthen. But this is a new space...and I'm going to take you with me. Until next time...

The Making of Marc Danyell....

(gets into Timbaland voice)...its been a long time....shouldna left you...wit-out a dope blog to post to....

I know I know, I've been slacking. This project of mine at work has been killing me though. But rest assured, it will be over September 25th (hopefully). Then I shall reclaim my freedom!!!

Anywho, to the important things. In my August 22nd session with Ankh Ra, he challenged me to list out the assets and liabilities of Marcus Jackson. The object of this exercise is to essentially use this as a foundation for discovering who I want Marc Danyell to be. Just as a reminder, Marc Danyell is sort of my Marcus 2.0--the person I am working to grow into...my Sasha Fierce (as Michelle so eloquently put it). So with that being said, I have generated this list based on responses from a few people I've interviewed:

Marcus Jackson's Assets: Wisdom beyond my years; ability to listen; confidence; my ability to learn; sincerety; love; strength; care; handsomeness...lol; adaptability; ability to connect with people (of all kinds); my Faith

Marcus Jackson's Liabilities: I tend to second-guess myself; which leads overcompensating; I think too much; I sweat too much (which may be a result of number one); naturally negative about myself

Now if you are reading this and feel there is more to be added, feel free to comment! But of course, my next task is to decide who I want Marc Danyell to be. Obviously, I want Marc Danyell to be a mix of all my assets, with a little taste of liabilities (just to keep me focused). But its my drive to be a perfectionist that enables those aforementioned liabilities. ARRGGHHH...this exercise is much harder than I previously presumed it would be. Stay tuned as I continue to develop and understand the inner workings of me....