Dream.

Having a dream is wonderful.  Pursuing your dream is courageous.  Knowing that that dream is the only thing you can see yourself ever doing is exciting, daunting, scary, beautiful, nerve-wracking, enlightening, fulfilling..

For me (and I'm sure a whole lot of others out there), being an artist, makes me feel bipolar, at times.  One moment I'm super elated and positive, and with a drop of a hat, I'm crying and thinking I'm not worth it.  At the end of the day, and after all of the emotions that jump aboard this roller coaster ride, I still have my dream intact.  I still have the belief that this dream will come true.  I still have the drive to pursue my goals.  There is no fallback.  There is no "Plan B."  This is it.  This is the real deal.  Of course, other opportunities have come along, and will continue to come along, that will give me a more comfortable, financially stable, and materialistic pleasing lifestyle, but will that provide me happiness or self fulfillment?  No.  To quote Whoopi as she's talking to Ms. Lauryn Hill in Sister Act II (yep, I went there): "If you wake up in the morning, and all you can think of is singing, then you're a singer."  It's so true.  We all know our destinies, so many of us just happen to push them to the wayside to make room for everything else.  Well, after many people attempting to get me to do just that over the years, I still have one word for them all: No.  I will not stop.  I will continue this journey.  And I will succeed.  :)