When I'm depressed, one of the things that makes me feel suicidal is the idea that my life is just going to be a string of interruptions. I never made it through theater college because I wound up in treatment for mental health, I managed to cobble together a BA in theatre later on but couldn't do Honours or my 4th year because of bipolar disorder, I dropped out twice due to hospitalization and the dean's office sent me a letter saying they wouldn't be lenient next time.

I see people who went to my theatre college working professionally and that's where I always thought I'd end up. But I haven't. I'm turning 32 in less than a week and I'm still chipping away at my second undergrad degree in music. I know what I want to do for a living now - I want to be a vocal coach for transgender men, because I went through the voice change alone and it was hard but I figured it out and would like to help other people in the same situation. I also want to be a playwright. I've had a play produced already, last spring.

So I know where I want to be, but the hard part is finding the courage to commit. Especially if bipolar is hanging over my head, threatening to ruin these plans too.

How do you build the life you want?