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When I first came back from Iraq, I of course found myself thinking a lot about it. Not just my experiences, but those of people I talked to, friends, and colleagues.

Spending time with the military certainly lends itself to some remarkable experiences, and I've been privileged to have had my share.

The challenge in my life really is keeping the balance between feeling creatively energized and fulfilled without feeling overwhelmed and like I'm in the middle of a battlefield.

I have to experience all the ghastly, bottomless depths for life for myself; it's for that reason that I went to war, and for that reason I volunteered.

I'm just really excited to be doing what I love, and I think that's the best part about all of this.

But more than anything I kind of pride myself in continuing the process that we're trying to accomplish, and that's just to get better and work on my fundamentals. So that's been kind of in the theme now for a couple years and we stuck with it and that's kind of what I want to keep doing.

For me, it's an honor for the military to ask me to go to Iraq, Afghanistan, or GITMO. I'm happy to go.

For me, half the joy of achieving has been the struggle and the fight, the pitting myself against the world and all its competition - and winning.

After all my years of playing soldiers, and then of reading History, I have almost a mania to be in the East, to see fighting, and to serve.

I've enjoyed being a part of something from the beginning, when we were still finding our footing.