Tag Me Tuesdays-# 311 November 7th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast
I Pursue My Bliss
JOSEPH CAMPBELL was a mythologist and writer known for coining the term “follow you bliss.” In an interview that was done by Bill Moyers for a PBS documentary, which was turned into a book called The Power of Myth…Bill asked Joseph Campbell a question:
“Do you ever have the sense of… being helped by hidden hands?”
Joseph replied, “It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time – namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about how this has become a catch term for millennials now a days, that they want to follow their bliss, that they will take jobs with more hours, with less pay, or do things that help them to feel their purpose… but I think a good portion of people can get this term wrong. That following your bliss means that it will come to you.
Joseph didn’t say wait for your bliss. He said FOLLOW your bliss. And it isn’t a blind following, it isn’t a following of I hope something will work out. Yes, there won’t be a direct path…but it is a harder path. It is the willingness to do whatever it takes to go towards your bliss. It is the willingness to be active if necessary, it is the willingness to be patient actively waiting however long it will take when most would get too impatient and give up, and it is the willingness to go into battle with no gear if need be… committed fully to your path.
And so the path of following your bliss, while it will be a purposeful path, it probably will be the hardest path you’ll take. Maybe not because you will have to work the hardest or that it will take years…but that the path will be counterintuitive to what the world will tell you. As people will say don’t go into that profession you’ll never make any money, don’t pursue that goal many have tried before and have failed every time. People may try to persuade you away from your goal, and to take their path, as they are afraid of traveling their path alone…or maybe your path is a difficult one because the signs or warning signals aren’t readily apparent. As most times it’s a feeling or a sense of intuition…and it can be hard to discern that voice versus the voice of fear inside.
So I say be willing to be tested, be willing to do the work in figuring out who you are, be willing to pursue your dreams and goals as you follow your bliss…but be willing to put in the effort, the toil, the courage to fail over and over again if need be, be willing to be laughed at and ridiculed for going the other way, and be willing to do whatever it takes…even if it means leaving it all behind to pursue and follow what emblazes your soul…be willing to follow your bliss…but be willing to do what is necessary to reach that destination. For it will be a hard path, but not in how you expect…as the answer may already be in your grasp… as it’s the willingness to do whatever it takes to make it yours. And some are not ready to take themselves to those depths, and some won’t believe they deserve it…but it’s my hope that you will be willing to do it, and to know you are worthy to not only follow your bliss but to live it every day.
Today’s Personal Commitment:
What is your bliss, and what does it mean to PURSUE it? Sometimes we don’t feel fulfilled in our lives because we aren’t pursuing our bliss, and sometimes our lives are not fulfilled…by our definition of bliss changing. I was watching Field of Dreams and Kevin Costner is playing catch with a character at the end of the movie…and the character asks Kevin if this is Heaven… and he says, “it’s Iowa.” Later in the scene Kevin asks the other man...”is there a heaven?” And the character says, “oh yeah, it’s the place dreams come true.” Kevin looks back at his wife and daughter on the porch playing and says with a slight grin on his face…”Well, maybe this is heaven.”
So following your bliss may not be leaving everything behind, it may be remembering what is important to you again and re-energizing your pursuits in being more present in your life to what you already have…but again it may be making commitments that you gave up on long ago for fear of not succeeding. There is heaven in this world…and we decide whether we will pursue it, or we decide to stay in limbo complaining that we never had a chance to pursue what made us feel alive. I hope you remain active in following your bliss.
Write down what your bliss is. Write down how you can begin pursuing it again, and then begin working on pursuing your bliss…right now.
I Pursue My Bliss
Thanks for listening. I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn
Contact info- email: chris@strongwithin.com phone:865-219-3247
Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide
