Pursuing our Passions

Being a 100% disabled veteran is difficult. You don't often get the socialization aspect that you get from a regular job. You have to work to think about how you will exercise your meaning-making chops to find something that you can do routinely that you absolutely love and that makes you feel good.

When my bipolar journey began roughly 20 years ago, I always used to drive around and while I was driving I would sing to myself. It was a way to work through confusing, surging emotions that would be brought about by bipolar mania. Occasionally, I would take the time to develop those "outbursts" into something a little more structured that might be considered a song.

When I was planning to get married in 2008, I took a songwriting class at the local community college and I started taking guitar lessons. I wanted to write a song for the ceremony for my wife. I fulfilled that goal. I used that success to begin studying songwriting in even greater detail and taking additional lessons in music theory and composition. I have learned how to produce music in a digital audio workstation and I work with a professional vocalist to bring my creations to life. It's a form of reflection and poetry, as I usually write songs directly from the themes that I am thinking about at that time in my life.

I love this activity. It's not enough to fill my entire life, but I usually spend several hours every week working at it. RealitySeeker is similar. It's something I've been studying for years and now I need to figure out how to communicate that vision and motivate others to participate with me. Mission Daybreak is just one possible way of sparking something. If that doesn't work, I will have to go about it another way. But this is what I mean by pursuing your passions. What will you build? What will you create? And how will that make you feel? How will that contribute to your feelings of well-being?