Fundamental Principle

Joseph Campbell was a brilliant, self-directed and disciplined scholar who, throughout his life, continued to uncover the mysteries of himself and our world.

He painstakingly outlined procedures for accomplishing his goals which are evident in one of his early journal entries in which he wrote his plan to keep "a careful dairy of my reactions, plans, etc., as an attempt to crystallize, more or less, my essential point of view - or at least discover what that point of view may be".

His journey was epitomized by self- reflection and reevaluation that continually altered the path he followed.  It is Joe who coined the phrase "Follow Your Bliss" that so many others have embraced (including me - obviously).

Following your bliss means remaining true to yourself, living an authentic life that feels right deep in the essence of who you are.  If you listen to that voice you will know your path but attuning yourself to hearing can often prove mystifying.

Joe wrote of the intensity of life.  The passion.  The pull of wanting to experience it all ensures a dizzying roller coaster ride of unfocused adventure that leaves one seizing the moment but ultimately unsatisfied. He posited that perhaps it is "best to carefully discriminate, and find what phases contribute most to poise, sympathy, sensitivity and organic growth - the whole thing being goverened  and selected from within rather than by chance. Then live intensely what you have intelligently decided you want to live".

This is akin to Dolly Parton's statement "Find out who you are and do it on purpose".

Good advice that isn't always so easy to unravel but I, like so many others, am committed to doing it on purpose.  And I am basking in the thrill of my purposeful journey.