My name is Dan Wright, and I am the owner and mastermind of istillhave.life, a music production and composition business under which I create and manage a variety of projects. I have big dreams for it, from pop bangers to symphonies and film scores to TV shows, but for now I’m doing what I can with what I’ve got. As my personal motto states, “Focus on the opportunities you DO have, not the ones you DON’T have.”
I am a music producer, composer, curator, writer, and explorer. I have been working in some aspect of the music industry since 2009, and I have developed a diverse set of skills and an ever-widening range of nerdery.
My two great passions are creating music and discovering the world. I am a sponge for information and expressions of music, artistry, travel, and cultural diversity.
I am a 5w4, INFP, and Ravenclaw, which is probably weird information to include here, but so be it. And like the TARDIS, I’m blue, awkward, constantly roaming outside space and time, trustworthy, contrary when necessary, and bigger on the inside. I wouldn’t change any of that.
my story
On December 21, 2013, I survived a major health incident that put me in the hospital, but after several days I was discharged without a diagnosis. All I knew was that I was left impaired, and that I would have a very long road to recovery.
I didn’t know then if I had a life to live. I didn’t know how far I would heal, and I was keenly aware that whatever had happened to me could happen again at any moment. And if I did have more years in me, I knew I was at a crossroads; I could give up, or I could fight for my future. I realized that I had spent my life focusing on the opportunities I DID NOT have, rather than those I DID have.
I chose hope. I chose to believe in myself. I chose to survive. I chose to thrive.
I did eventually get to another doctor for a second opinion about six months after the incident. He informed me that I’d had a stroke, something which other medical professionals had kept insisting I was too young for at 31 years of age. Finally, an answer. And after a very long and tumultuous healing period, I came out the other side still with some impairments, but with far more understanding of myself and my purpose. I gained far more than I lost, and I would not take back that difficult season.
I still have life, and I want to make the most of it.