Fourteen years is a great distance in time from discovering a fantastic, new, inspirational world to the realization that you have come to be an active character in that very same reality. For me to say that my openness to living a life driven by my passions and my new commitment for pursuing my dreams has found me to be realizing them seems a bit redundant at this point. There does comes a point where you can view your grand experiences as a series of ripples on your life’s timeline, but remain uncertain whether or not you are merely enjoying the grace of those cosmic blessings, or are somehow responsible for attracting their existence altogether. If time is in fact one single moment and not linear, then while all that occurs is introduced to you, would you not simultaneously participate in its conception?

Now awakening as that character finds me in a state of immense gratitude. One of my greatest wishes has been not only to experience the heart of the artistic movement that helped transform my life entirely, but to have an opportunity to tell my story in the fertile setting in which it blossomed. On Friday, March 9th, I was provided with that opportunity. The Nine Bar is the most active outdoor venue in Goa featuring a different dj from around the world every night from 5-10pm. It sets atop a bluff north of Anjuna offering perfect, palm tree framed sunset views overlooking the Arabian sea. A dirt dance floor covered with a sky full of stars is all I could really ask for when my chance to spin there had finally arrived. Five hours was more than enough time for a proper, dynamic trance journey in the spirit of storytelling, and more than nervous I grabbed my digital recorder and threw on my “Choose Bliss” t-shirt ready to go. Whether it was the fact that there was no moon overhead at the time or the residual effects from the disassociating lunar eclipse earlier in the week, my headspace was somewhat off and I was feeling somehow detached from my surroundings as I began to play. Being a giant inside of a covered dj booth didn’t help, and the overhead light while improving navigation filtered much of the view to the initially sparse crowd. I continued pulling chapters from my library and at times felt nearly alone except for the lizard that crawled in through the root like window hole carefully dodging sunset as it perched above my head where he remained for the duration. Believed to be the keepers of the dreamtime, I felt honored that this reptilian shaman had chosen to assist me in this particular dream sequence. In those moments of detachment I felt that my technical focus was somehow fine tuned and so I allowed it to consume my attention. Eventually gaining some sense of the external world, I could see the amorphous silhouette of the crowd that had at some point grown to the neighborhood of 200 people, filling the entire dance floor. Peepholes through the dividing veil slowly gave way as I recognized a few familiar faces below. Finally unleashing some of my best tracks, the experience climaxed when some of the old-timer hippies easily in their 50’s gave me the “thumbs up” sign of appreciation for the classic goa melodies. As my last track tapered off, I couldn’t believe 5 hours had gone by and the crowd’s appreciation seemed to flood in all at once as if the gates dividing my experience from theirs had finally been broken allowing the larger experience to be realized.

The attempted digital recording didn’t work (always read the manual before assuming you can use the equipment in an unfamiliar situation regardless of how straightforward it seems) but the priceless memories continue to sink deeply as the space afterward has finally allowed them to be absorbed. Now if my story is remembered or only resonates in the memory of the swaying palms and setting sun, the fulfilling sensation of deep gratitude that permeates my being is enough. “Just another beautiful sunset in Goa” holds new meaning, and now in some strange way, I feel like I belong here.