Finding your bliss

“Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it”. - Joseph Campbell

What does it mean to follow your bliss? Is it just a meme that people on Pinterest post in a bid to be mystical? Sometimes it feels that way. Follow your bliss- it is overused.

Another pertinent question is how does one follow their bliss while also paying for stuff? Joseph Campbell appears to say that it’s better to have your bliss and no money than to not follow your bliss. Unfortunately you can’t eat bliss, nor wear it. It poses a problem.

I still think it’s OK to follow your bliss though, and by this I mean that you must find out what it is that you are good for (that you are good at) and stick to it. We all like to dabble in this and that but generally we all have that one thing that won’t leave us alone. Sometimes that thing frustrates us or we give it up for a few years, but it always comes back. Maybe it’s really your bliss that follows you.

If you can happen to make some fast cash by selling your music or books then all the better. Generally, most of us will have to have some kind of hustle to stay alive, but the key is to try and find some work in which you can use your creative skills and inner wisdom so that it complements your bliss. 

Perhaps this is what Campbell really means. Make your bliss the centre of everything, the activity that gives meaning to everything else. No point in running out of Pot Noodles and dying in a garret for your bliss. Just make it the cosy place, the home that you always return to. It’s a compass that takes you back to yourself.