I'm living my dream right now. I get to make music, perform and

Hear, O child of music and wanderlust, the words of Ville Valo, singer of soul and shadow: “I’m living my dream right now. I get to make music, perform and travel.” This utterance, though simple, is a hymn of triumph, for it speaks of a man who stands within the very vision he once only longed for. His words carry not only gratitude, but also revelation: that to live one’s dream is to unite passion with action, art with journey, and labor with joy.

At the heart of his saying lies the union of three sacred flames: music, performance, and travel. Music is the voice of the soul, the art that transcends language and enters the heart of all who hear. Performance is the offering of that soul before others, a ritual as old as the fireside of the ancients, where poets, singers, and storytellers gave their voices to bind the tribe together. Travel is the movement of body and spirit through the world, the widening of the horizon, the gathering of new colors and experiences. To live with all three is to live in the fullness of art and life combined.

Valo’s words echo the wisdom of the ancients who knew that to live a dream is the rarest gift. Think of the poet Orpheus, who sang so sweetly that even stones and trees bent toward him. His art was not separate from his life—it was his life, and it carried him to distant realms, even to the gates of the underworld. Or recall the medieval troubadours, who roamed across Europe singing songs of love and spirit, sustained not by wealth but by the joy of their craft and the honor of travel. Valo’s journey continues this lineage, proving that the artist’s dream is timeless: to create, to share, to wander.

There is also within his words the wisdom of gratitude. He does not speak of fame, nor of riches, but of the simple wonder of doing what he loves. In this, he teaches us that the essence of fulfillment is not in possessions but in alignment—the harmony between what one loves and what one does. To rise each day and find oneself within the dream once imagined is the true definition of wealth. Gratitude is the guardian of this joy, preventing it from fading into entitlement or being consumed by ambition.

But let us not forget the labor beneath the dream. To make music is not only ecstasy but discipline—long hours of practice, countless failures before beauty emerges. To perform is not only adoration but also courage—to bare the soul before strangers, to risk rejection and judgment. To travel is not only wonder but weariness—long journeys, absence from home, the sacrifice of stability. Valo’s words remind us that the dream, once attained, still carries its burdens. Yet to embrace those burdens willingly is itself part of the dream.

History offers countless examples of those who lived this balance of passion and labor. Beethoven, though struck with deafness, continued to write symphonies that shook the world. His dream was not an easy one, but he lived it fully, choosing art over despair. Likewise, Valo’s testimony reminds us that even in hardship, the artist’s path, once chosen, brings a joy that no ease or comfort could replace. To live the dream is to choose the path of fire rather than the path of ashes.

The lesson, then, is this: pursue the dream that unites your love with your labor. Do not be deceived into chasing only what is easy or safe. Instead, discover the work that sets your soul aflame, and pursue it until you, too, can say, “I am living my dream right now.” In practice, this means cultivating discipline as well as passion, gratitude as well as ambition, courage as well as talent. Dreams are not stumbled upon—they are forged, day by day, until the life you live and the life you long for are one and the same.

Thus, let Valo’s words be a beacon: to make music, perform, and travel is his dream, but for each of us the dream will differ. What matters is not its form, but its truth. Find yours. Live it. And when you do, speak as he did—not with pride alone, but with wonder—that you have stepped into the life you once only imagined, and found it real.