"Follow Your Bliss"
The Regenerative Fuel for Creation
‘Sustainability’ has become such a buzzword, and understandably so; certainly sustainable resources, systems, and methods are preferable to their unsustainable counterparts, at least as far as we desire to mitigate entropy.
And, I feel the next level of this expansion is to imagine, aim for, and create regenerative ways of living. ‘Regenerative’- meaning that the way builds on or fuels itself; the resource, system, or method is self-perpetuating.
I have found no other way of creation so self-perpetuating as genuine desire.
Genuine desire.
Each of these components (genuine + desire) holds its own significance and cultivates power independently-
For example, imagine the heart-centered healthcare worker or teacher who devalues their time and skills but has the power to keep going through their exhaustion and deterioration.
Imagine the parent who has completely immeshed their identity with parenthood and their children, and continues nurturing and providing despite losing a deep sense of interdependent self.
This is the power of genuine.
Now, imagine a person determined to retire by 35, willing to do whatever it takes to accumulate enough wealth for themselves and their family to live more than comfortably for the next 70 years, regardless of compromises to their health, ethics, happiness, or relationships.
Imagine a person who desperately wants to be a performer- a singer, actor, dancer, comedian, podcaster, etc.- who is, again, willing to do whatever it takes to create this dream as quickly as possible regardless of compromises with other values.
This is the power of desire.
NOW, imagine the integration of these methods.
Imagine the individual who desires to build a spiritual community, a community that will last hundreds of years. They understand that this community must be open to change while holding values that transcend time, so the individual does not rush the build. The individual sees that their personal expansion is paramount to the success and integrity of the community, so they prioritize growth and self-care. They recognize the power of interdependence and teamwork and find like-minded individuals to journey with, personally and professionally.
The goal is valued as the intuition is valued. The heart is valued as the mind is valued. The self is valued as the community is valued. Time is valued as the present moment is valued. Consistency is valued as change is valued.
This individual learns to appreciate that the most transcendent version of their vision is something they cannot imagine, so they allow a greater power (God, The Universe, Nature, Community) to do the heavy lifting.
This is the power of genuine desire.
Joseph Campbell famously guided- first his students and later the public- to “follow your bliss.” I’m offering here that this “bliss” JC referred to is synonymous with ‘genuine desire.’
The magical “bliss” is not simply a feel-good- there are many different ‘feel goods.’ The magical bliss is a clear feel-good, that includes a knowing of self and benevolent intention for both the individual self and the system that joins all individual selves.
And this bliss is a (perhaps, the) regenerative fuel for creation. This bliss builds on itself, self-perpetuates, and offers exponential growth.
Generally, bliss, or genuine desire, is not easy to access, especially in the modern world. Embodying our bliss often requires digging through inauthenticity and fear that has clung, and sometimes piled, onto our character. Limiting beliefs, micro- and macro-traumas, habitual negative mental and emotional patterns, detachment from community, intuition, and physical sensation, compounded by hyper-novelty and the influence of environments that often reinforce what we would be better off letting go of- getting in touch with oneself through all of this noise is seldom easy.
Yet, the payoff…
There are no words.
And once one has a taste of this bliss, it becomes essentially impossible to ‘go back.’ We can not un-know something, and to the extent we forget the sensation of this bliss, we will be reminded of its absence by the pain that, once so normal, becomes somatically understood as optional.
If you’ve chosen this journey, I encourage you to keep moving forward on your path ❤️
Here are some additional Joseph Cambell quotes to assist your inner alchemy…
BILL MOYERS: Do you ever have the sense of... being helped by hidden hands?
JOSEPH CAMPBELL: All the time. 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.
- “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers”
If your bliss is just your fun and your excitement, you’re on the wrong track. I mean, you need instruction. Know where your bliss is. And that involves coming down to a deep place in yourself.
- “The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on his Life and Work”
What makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.
- Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove: “Understanding Mythology”: Thinking Allowed Productions, 1988
To find your own way is to follow your own bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where the real deep bliss is—not the quick little excitement, but the real, deep, life-filling bliss.
- “Man and Myth: A Conversation with Joseph Campbell,” Psychology Today, July 1971
We are having experiences all the time which may on occasion render some sense of this, a little intuition of where your bliss is. Grab it. No one can tell you what it is going to be. You have to learn to recognize your own depth.
- “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers”
Thank you to the Joseph Campbell Foundation for their free resources —>
https://www.jcf.org/