In this interview‑style monologue, John recounts the evolution of his personal philosophy that “transforming perceived mental illness into a blessing”—a mantra he first coined in 2011 after a pivotal encounter with inspirational speaker Lisa Nichols and entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani at Awesomeness Fest in Costa Rica. He describes his early life entangled with the mental‑health system, multiple involuntary hospitalizations, and reliance on psychiatric medication from his late teens through his early thirties. The experience of hearing Nichols speak sparked a desire to share his own story, leading him to co‑author a paid‑for‑inclusion book and to reframe his narrative from “mental illness” to “perceived mental illness.” Over the past three years he has been off medication, attributing his sustained stability to a “gateway drug” of passion—specifically music, filmmaking, and the love he found with his wife Andrea. John details his creative output (20 songs written during depressive periods, aspirations to direct films), his ongoing public performances, and his current state of “celebration mode,” where he lives his dream and hopes his example can inspire others. Throughout, he emphasizes that while he does not deny the existence of mental‑health challenges, the label itself is optional, and the key to transformation lies in purpose‑driven engagement and community connection.
Chapters
Well, technically I'm in the midst of it right now. I mean, the reality is, I mean, it's interesting talking to you now in this moment in the sense that we had that talk, you know, during that time and you asked me about it because, well, when I first came up with this phrase for myself, which was transforming mental illness into a blessing with the tagline of passion is the gateway drug, that was around 2011 when I met a woman named Lisa Nichols. Who is an inspirational speaker and writer, things like that. So I'd been through the mental health system from, you know, from basically 19 to 30 at that point, or 32 or something like that. I was living off credit cards, so I just charged everything. Plus I had some money from like family and from the government and things like that. And this nice apartment actually by myself in New Jersey. So I saw someone speak on a video, this guy named Vishen Lakhiani, and he was talking about the 6 steps to awesomeness, which, um, I don't know if I can remember them now. I should. It's like, know what you want, be in flow, embodiment practices, be in the right environment, and one other thing. And he was talking about the famous quote of, you're the, you're the summation of the 5 people that are closest to you, um, which I had heard before but hadn't thought too much about because I grew up with amazing people around me. But at this time, I was isolated based And I thought about it and I thought, well, really there's only my mom and dad, first of all, that I'm even really even close to at this point. So it's not even 5 people, um, really, if I thought about who are my 5 closest friends at that time. Um, so it really inspired me and I— he was putting on something called Awesomeness Fest in Costa Rica, which was changemakers, entrepreneurs, things like that. And I thought, I have to be at this event. And I put it on my credit card and I went to Costa Rica and I met this woman, Lisa Nichols. And I told her, I told everyone there about my story. Like I felt out of place and I had this whole history of bipolar and there was people there who were millionaires or friends with Richard Branson and this, that, and the other. But everyone was really generous and nice. It was a really good vibe. Um, and I talked to Lisa, she spoke basically the first day and I never had actually been around someone when I heard them speak. It literally made me want to do something. Like, um, I mean, I felt that way about music, um, live music, but I'd never really had one person speak like in a just speaking kind of way that, um, made me feel alive and like that I had something to share or do or be. Um, so I went to talk to her and she invited me to be part of one of these co-authored books where you actually pay to be in the book. It's like a marketing— it's like an expensive business card kind of thing. Um, But on the other hand, you get to tell your story and share your story. So I realized I wanted to share about my experience. So that was like 2011. So I've been on this journey since 2011 of transforming mental illness into a blessing. And I updated it a couple of years ago to transforming perceived mental illness into a blessing because I wanted to change it because I actually don't think there's such a thing as mental illness. You can use the word in certain vacuums that you want, but technically there's no reason to call it that. So I've changed it to that. And I thought I was going to go out and do like a messiah mental health thing, like when I first wrote the book and like coach people and teach and change everything. And then I realized I had put it in the present tense for a reason. You know, I didn't call it transformed mental illness. It was transforming. And I was like, uh, yeah, I think I'm still working on that. So the last couple of years I've realized I've been getting stories from people who also have had these experiences and Like, basically doing the research, like what works for people, um, and being off medications myself for a few years, fine, like altogether. I was only on a little bit a couple years ago, but still I was on it. Um, so it's been about 2 or 3 years since I've been on it, I guess like 3 years since I've been on medication. I mean, people have asked me what I did, and it's like, honestly, it's passion for me was the gateway drug, meaning I had to have something to keep me alive, which is I want to be a rock star, I want to make a movie. Like, or I have music yet to be made, you know, there was something, or I love my friends, like just something until you can figure out the rest. And I think, and then the other thing when people ask me is I met my wife, my now wife, which you can't prescribe. You can't prescribe that to people, but I do believe— Mm-hmm. What you can prescribe is the passion part and staying alive and finding something that makes you come alive. And that can give you grace, I think, on a certain level. And the grace is what allowed me to meet Andrea. So the last couple years I've upped my level in understanding what is this whole experience I had and all the wounding of being tied down and locked up and medicated. And I didn't just go full way, like halfway with it. I was like held against my will like 7 times and all that kind of good stuff. Like, um, deep, deep research and development, basically. Um, so to bring things up to current, my real passion is not new math or technology. It's to play music and make movies. And I've played here some music. I mean, I don't play well, but I've got 20 songs written from when I was depressed, and I've always wanted to record them. I've always wanted to make movies like Steven Spielberg or something like that. And I've been broadcasting. I've been broadcasting. I played music in front of people just a little bit to get over that fear. Um, I'm carrying my guitar around with me, make like directing little things here because we have so many amazing people here. I'm just in complete celebration mode, like, of just celebrating everyone around me. Like, they're so genius and good-hearted. So, so I'm living my dream right now. I mean, among all the things to share with you, like, what's going on here, it's like I'm living my dream. And hopefully other people are too. I see that. And hopefully me doing that can also help them do that, I guess. So talented. I'll go from David Letterman to Jim Morrison and back to Walter Cronkite, you know. Awesome. There's a blessing, there's a blessing in the multi-personality, uh, DSM disorder, you know. All right, man, much love to you, John. Thank you so much.
