Hello

I have been wanting to create a blog for some time now. I have struggled with what I would share but I have so many ideas, experiences, maybe even a dream or two, that I want to share.

A little bit about myself before beginning this journey. I am a music teacher. Specifically, I am the Choral Director and AP Music Theory Instructor at the High School level. I love my job. I get to teach and create music with young people. I have worked with young people, either in private/public schools or in churches for as long as I can remember. At the end of the day, I guess one could say I like to teach.

I am also a veteran. A Marine to be precise. I served my country just as my Dad, uncles, and grandfather did before me. I had some interesting experiences that proved to be fundamental in my formation as a young man.

Lastly, and more importantly, I am a man of faith-Christian to be exact. I grew up in the Baptist Church (although my mother was Roman Catholic), became a Roman Catholic while working on my undergrad (my Baptist Grandma was not too happy about that for a while), and eventually found myself in the Episcopal Church. Along the way, I walked away from God a couple times and still find myself struggling with my faith from time to time but I have learned that I am not alone.

For the time being, I think that is as much as I wish to share. Maybe it is good that one does not find out too much about another too soon. Time reveals and time also allows us to process what is revealed to us.

I am not interested in this being some kind of political space beyond the desire to try and understand what is going on around us. I do like discussing ideas, so long as it is understood that eventually, we will disagree. And if we disagree, it only means we are hashing out our ideas, not attacking each other. Our "winner takes all" discussion habits (just spend about five minutes on social media) is something I would just as soon avoid.

If I do write something with which you disagree, I would welcome a thoughtful, respectful, rebuttal.
This way, maybe we both learn something.

If I write something that somehow affects you in a positive way, please let me know as I could use the encouragement!

That's all for now. Looking forward to my first "real" post.

All the best,

Charles