{"id":163,"date":"2017-04-09T18:29:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T22:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/dremadeoraich\/?p=163"},"modified":"2017-04-09T18:29:06","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T22:29:06","slug":"choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/09\/choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"

I sometimes envy people who have had that \u201cAha!\u201d moment which inspires the words, \u201cThis is what I was born for!\u201d To have that certainty, that conviction, that gut-deep knowing<\/em> that you have found your true purpose must be profoundly and life-alteringly fulfilling! It would, of necessity, focus you, give you \u201cpermission\u201d to dismiss all other pursuits as irrelevant. You can finally, without hesitation or reserve, give yourself over completely to the joy, the love of your calling.<\/p>\n

There have been those persons in our world history who seem to have had such clarity of purpose in their lives: Beethoven, Michaelangelo, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking \u2014 all are considered masters in their respective works, and with good reason. Each found his or her place in the world where they were most effective, where they shone brightest.<\/p>\n

But all that glitters is not gold, and finding that sweet spot doesn\u2019t guarantee happiness. Beethoven lost his hearing and had multiple romantic difficulties. Goodall\u2019s methods of research were frequently called into question. Michelangelo was constantly dissatisfied with himself, and suffered from melancholy. Mandela spent many years in prison.<\/p>\n

Then, again, I wonder \u2014 is the focus of such a \u201ctrue calling\u201d ultimately limiting? Would it cause you to cease all other exploration, all questions external to itself? Would outside interests wither on the vine, as it were? Does such concentration shrink the borders of your world? If so, is it possible to find an in-between point where you still feel the conviction of your purpose and take profound joy in it, but do not close the door to all other avenues of discovery?<\/p>\n

I believe that the state of mind can<\/em> be attained wherein you can continue your focus on your calling, even follow it to the point of excellence, but not to the exclusion of other activities; from this centered point, you can more easily discriminate between those outside pursuits which are merely distraction, and those which harbor golden nuggets of genuine awareness, growth, enlightenment or expansion of thought. I suspect the dimensions of this peak are slight and difficult to sense. Thus you are unlikely to stumble upon its sanctuary. Instead, it must be actively sought and, once attained, used carefully, purposefully and mindfully, as one would utilize and maintain any gift of rare and precious delicacy.<\/p>\n

It seems that we alone, of all the animals on Earth, are burdened with the search for meaning. And not even all humans, perhaps regrettably, are thus charged. Many, maybe the vast majority of us go through our lives never wondering why we are here, or what purpose we might be meant to serve. And sometimes \u2014 just sometimes \u2014 I envy them too.<\/p>\n

Usually not, though.<\/p>\n

For my own part, I cannot imagine an existence where meaning is … meaningless. Ergo, I continue the search for that true calling, and for the pinnacle of balance between it and all the unanswered questions that await.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Drema De\u00f2raich (from August, 2009)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I sometimes envy people who have had that \u201cAha!\u201d moment which inspires the words, \u201cThis is what I was born for!\u201d To have that certainty, that conviction, that gut-deep knowing that you have found your true purpose must be profoundly and life-alteringly fulfilling! It would, of necessity, focus you, give you \u201cpermission\u201d to dismiss all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archived-writings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s8n0kX-choices","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6223,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/13\/service-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":163,"position":0},"title":"Service Model","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Adrian Tchaikovsky \u00a9 2024, Tor Books 373 Pages ISBN 13: 978-1250290298 As I\u2019ve come to expect from any Adrian Tchaikovsky book I read, Service Model was brilliant. Told with sensitivity, humor, humanity, and a touch of philosophical wonder, the story follows the personal development\u2014inasmuch as a robot can expect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A robot, silhouetted against the clear image of a green and gold sky where the moon hangs close, stands amidst the dark ruins of a city. Text reads, Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky. \u201cAdrian Tchaikovsky is one of the best storytellers in the business. Come see for yourself.\u201d \u2013 John Scalzi.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ServiceModel-194x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":548,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/15\/living-our-stories\/","url_meta":{"origin":163,"position":1},"title":"Living Our Stories","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In writing workshops, teachers and advisers (and agents\/publishers) all say that regardless of genre, a book's word count is limited. In science fiction, for example, the standard acceptable word count ranges between 90K and 120K. Given this restriction, it's important for the writer to confine herself to those words that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":498,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/18\/swimming-with-the-snarks\/","url_meta":{"origin":163,"position":2},"title":"Swimming with the Snarks","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"December 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of months ago, I joined a FaceBook writers group with thousands of members. I hoped to find helpful input, guidance and handy tips from others in the biz. What I got instead was drama. Every post I saw, no matter how innocuous or innocent the question, drew dozens\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7110,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/05\/false-idol\/","url_meta":{"origin":163,"position":3},"title":"False Idol","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"December 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Book 3 in The Projectionists Series By Tobias Youngblood \u00a9 2025, Riposte Press, LLC File size: 2.1 MB 334 pages ISBN-13: 978-1959649090 In False Idol, the satisfying conclusion of the Projectionist trilogy, Ridley, Iris, and Siv face their most challenging enemies yet. There\u2019s plenty of drama to be found in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A dark male figure with a hovering non-human being, and a dragon, against a slanted, dark, big city background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FalseIdol-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5187,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/05\/void-drifter\/","url_meta":{"origin":163,"position":4},"title":"Void Drifter","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By J. N. Chaney and Jason Anspach \u00a9 June 11, 2024, Variant Publications B0D2382W95 632 pages I enjoyed VoidDrifters\u00a0from the very first page, and was captivated by the main character, Will, an archeologist-turned-spacer. I totally bought the story's explanation of how he stumbles into the ship and accidentally activates it.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"One human and three aliens are drawn against the background of an extra-solar world. 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As the sixth of my six\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A female figure in a full-length red dress with a white bonnet is silhouetted against a black background. Text says \"The #1 Worldwide Bestseller. Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid's Tale.\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/HandmaidsTale-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}