Mr DJ

Priorities can change over time. What you think will make you happy, may become a burden instead.

I had a long bus ride to high school. About an hour. This was before the Walkman, before the boombox. One day I brought my new Panasonic, single-speaker cassette player to quietly listen to. A couple of people yelled, "Crank it up!". So I did. The entire bus was quiet, listening to my mixed tape tunes the whole trip. I felt like a DJ. I did that for a while until someone brought in a larger cassette player. At junior college, I was invited to be a yell leader since I knew gymnastics. Every week I would go to the local radio station and compile a football gameday ad with music tracks. They even let me curate some playlists as my suggestions became popular.

Later at my university, my rockstar friend offered to split the proceeds in between tours, for me to DJ with his band's equipment. YES! Now I had large speakers and could play whatever I wanted. Not to boast, but my playlists affected the entire dance scene in the area. Tons of indoor and outdoor dances. The police shut me down three times, it was so loud. I lived in a dance era saturated with Europop. Believe it or not, nobody mixed in classic rock with Europop, until me. And they loved it. That lasted until he went on tour later that year. I got a job out of college and saved, not for a car or house, but my own DJ system of course. Priorities. I got the largest bass cabinets possible. Massive mid and high speakers sat on each speaker tower. Two huge double-hung lighting trees with fog and a mirror ball. And the latest rack equipment to power it all. Since I was a graphic designer, my DJ brand looked current and established. I bought a used Chevy van for $400 to haul it all. This has been my dream since High School.

I offered to do my first dance for free to test my sonic masterpiece. Tons of flyers went out. Lots of people showed up. It sounded amazing, it felt amazing. My bones were vibrating, and I was far behind the mega speakers. The lights flashed to the music as I beat matched my way to oblivion that night. It was cool to see everyone dancing to what I was creating. Looked like they were bouncing on clouds with streaks of synced lightning flashing everywhere. It was a hit. I did three more dances the next month. Then, I realized something. Being a DJ was no longer fun. Yes, I could have got more portable speakers, but that was not the dream. I wanted the massive sound wall to move people with my music compilations. And now that I did it for hundreds of people who loved it. Working until 3am every weekend... No time for dating, or church the next morning... It would take years to recoup what I spent. Did not make sense anymore.

I sold it all to a friend, and bought one red Corvette, then two. Had a lot of fun, but eventually got in an accident with each. One was a miraculous 720 spinout at freeway speeds where my convertible slid perfectly into the emergency lane. Wish I had that on camera. No one got hurt and I was not at fault. The second was when the emergency brake mysteriously popped open and rolled my T-top forward into a stream. Even my bullet bike got stolen. Weird. Seemed like God was telling me something. I sold both Corvettes after I fixed them, and was left with my old Chevy van. It was then I realized, I was happier without all that stuff. I enjoyed my weekends again. Was not too tired for church. Probably would have killed myself with my sports cars and bullet-bike. Was my dream to be a DJ worth all the time and money it took to get there? Yes, I actually did it. And no, because it was a waste of money for all that equipment.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson. We don't bring any material goods back with us after we die.

The treasures we are gathering are life lessons and memories of what matters most. God, family, and friends. My friend who bought my equipment, let me DJ when I wanted. We had a blast and a long friendship! I was even the first DJ in the area to go digital. You should have seen the dance club owner's face when I showed up with only a laptop.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.