So you pretty much just summed up the point of my blog. For me, knowing what you want is, ultimately, how you matter. It starts with the dream, as Ryan suggests, but that can't be the end. Unfortunately, it often is.

I consider that 'tethered' feeling you speak of that comes from knowing what you want, to be purpose. There are times when I have it, know it. When I read or write something that inspires me or experience the beauty of the world around me on a run. When I encounter these experiences, that feeling of purpose flows like a river, and I haven't a care in the world. In those moments, I can actually see my life the way I want it. And it's so full. All of it I see in my mind's eye, at that precise moment when my social preconditions are stripped away and all that is left is me as I should be. Me as I long to be. 

And in that brief expanse of awareness lies the roadmap which points the way from here to there. As clearly as I can see my reflection in the mirror, I see how it could be, how I could live that life. But alas, the awareness is fleeting. One moment my vision is clear, the next moment cloudy. A mental roadblock is constructed and I unwittingly go about my day. Not fully, or even remotely, grasping the gravity of the moment-passed.

I can imagine living a life knowing what you want, but not achieving it. But - and I speak from experience - living a life not knowing, untethered, lacking purpose. That's no way to live. But I don't think forcing yourself to embrace something, just for the sake of it, is the way. My sense is that you know what you want at times. That you can think back to those moments when the vision was clear. The trick is knowing the triggers and engaging in them often enough to know that you can pick yourself up each time you falter.