FOLLOW YOUR BLISS
"You must be willing to get rid of the life you've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell
The scholar, writer and teacher Joseph Campbell gained international fame by deconstructing the great mythologies of mankind and revealing the simple truths and profound themes behind history's great tales and legends. He drew parallels between classical mythology, modern pop culture and everyday lives. In his view, each life is a hero's journey through which we all are seeking some distant reward, only to discover in the end that we had it in our hands all along. From Odysseus to the Wizard of Oz, it always ends up the same way.
Despite the breath and scope of his life's work, he is perhaps best known for one simple phrase: "Follow your bliss." The premise is a tantalizingly simple one. If you allow yourself to gravitate toward and pursue that which brings you the greatest pleasure, you will be on the road to achieving personal satisfaction , true happiness and your ultimate calling in life. The idea is to trust your instincts and be aware of when you are happiest and most fully engaged. In doing so, your natural talents will emerge and slowly you will become the person you were ended to be.
In the book The Power of Myth, Campbell point s out tat "If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living ... I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open for you where you didn't know they were going to be."
(Flocker, Pg 100-101)
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