Following Bliss

Aliveness 101: Honoring the process. . .:

"... the rush of joy that the athlete experienced at that moment didn’t just come because of a success on the mat, but instead that the success on the mat had served as a vehicle for a different understanding, and that this understanding was actually a certain kind of pleasure that only comes in moments where you learn something new about yourself. Where you have discovered it, through trials and risk, and made it through to another side.

..."Joseph Campbell described this kind of journey really well when he said that each individual must follow their own bliss.

I have heard people interpret that as selfish. But it only appears selfish from a particularly restricted point of view. The restriction is that what you feel may bring you bliss, may also be potentially unhealthy for you, and others around you. And, I do think that can often be true.

However, should we see past that stage, and perhaps no longer find those potentially dangerous habits as ‘healthy’, and therefore lacking in joy. . . .when we have fully realized the areas, shadows, and spaces where suffering was involved for all kinds of people, I believe we grow tired of it. . .that happening may very well come to you as the thought, “this does not make me happy, this cannot be following my bliss!”

After all, BLISS is a huge word. It’s loaded with all kinds of very cool sensory implications. So it spurs that idea, “hey, it must be more then this!” . . .and that brings about changes in the entire scene.

Changes for the good, spaces for the happiness. . . . . ..and much - much more."