"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 that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are – if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.
When you follow your bliss… doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else."
-JOSEPH CAMPBELL
I’m curious to hear peoples thoughts on this.
phil’s trip out to thailand sure comes to mind. it is a good thread to read and got us all pumped over heading out there for training.
floripa
I think it is vague and kind of pointless.
At first the word naive comes to mind. But there are lesser things that people believe in. What I’m saying is that theres a science to this happiness thing. A few sentences about a perspective on it are hardly proof that this is how we should live our lives.
Some people believe what they will to get by though.
If I followed my bliss, I’d end up dead or in prison.
Ahhhh… So that’s “The Secret”!
Unbrideled hedonism always leads to distruction. Look at some lives that follow it.
“The heart of man is desperatly wicked and above all things deceitful” Jer 17:9
“Follow your bliss”. We’d all be better off if we did. Are you living your dream or are you living the dream of your parents, society, commercials, etc? At a certain point, it becomes very difficult to even identify what your bliss would be and then find the courage to follow it.
Joseph Campbell was a remarkable man. If you haven’t done so already, I would recommend that you see his series of interviews with Bill Moyers on the subject of mythology, “The Power of Myth”.
Joseph Campbell-(March 26, 1904 ? October 31, 1987) was an American professor, writer, and orator best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion.
he has nothing to do with "the secret"movie.
i would have thought this place would have been full of supporters of ideas like “break away from societal norms if thats where your passion takes you” and the universal story of “the heroes journey”.
i mean, doing what’s right in the face of adversity is what being a man is all about right?
I interpret “bliss” to be what you feel passionate about. what drives your life? if you caould do anything with this life what would it be? and if you aren’t doing it. why?
thanks for the responces so far
[quote]florianopolis wrote:
phil’s trip out to thailand sure comes to mind. it is a good thread to read and got us all pumped over heading out there for training.
floripa[/quote]
yeah i did the same thing. only after breaking my foot in a pro muay thai fight, i spent the remainder of my time in a small village as a monk.
Ahhh, bliss. I experienced bliss just the other day. It was great. Everyone else in the car found it offensive. We rolled down the windows…
Bliss: A blowjob while fishing from your brand-new boat.
are there any thoughtful readers out there? i think the wiseass remarks are funny and all. i do. just wondering if anyone has some insight into the whole idea.
or stories
Yo, you asked about a perspective on life if I’m not mistaken this is thoughts on peoples lives (ie thoughtful). Some people hold the perspective of sarcasm, thats a sense of humor. Some could really give a shit, and some don’t know, but will definitely find the truth one day. < The extent of my sarcasm.
I happen to believe that everything in life has a meaning as do you, I’m assuming. Your mission is to find that meaning, correct? Something that kind of bridges my mental/physical gap is the sheer thought of “If knowing the truth - then what?” So I step back from the theoretics for a minute and start living; that’s when we find lifes true meaning - I think I recall that being quoted somewhere.
Oh P.S. “The Secret” is the theoretics.
[quote]jakshafter wrote:
Unbrideled hedonism always leads to distruction. Look at some lives that follow it.
“The heart of man is desperatly wicked and above all things deceitful” Jer 17:9
[/quote]
Why do you associate bliss with hedonism, wickedness and deceit?
[quote]cesliwakan wrote:
"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 that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are – if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.
When you follow your bliss… doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else."
-JOSEPH CAMPBELL
I’m curious to hear peoples thoughts on this.
[/quote]
Wonderful quote. Striving to live the life you ought to be living is a lifelong and worthy pursuit.
Perhaps, the most important pursuit.
The difficulty lies in determining what that life is.
The reason I ask.
I am on the verge of a huge decision. A choice between;
A very comfortable salary at a great job that doesn?t require much of me. A nice living situation with a girl (an extremely beautiful fitness model) I love and have been dating 3 years. Friends and a living situation that is comfortable and great.
OR
Throw it all away for the chance to go to LA and further my music career. Live like a Spartan (cheap shady place, cheap food, minimal material possessions) and simply dedicate all of my time to becoming a professional rock singer.
One is what everyone strives for but doesn’t lend itself to a life worthy of a good story (not interesting or epic)
The other will probably be much harder and have the potential to live a life worthy of a biography.
There is the potential to just stay here and try to work both but I feel like to really do something extraordinary you must take extraordinary measures.
If you are curious check
http://www.punchfacemusic.com
It’s just the word “bliss” that throws me. Where I roll, “Bliss out” means you’re tripping on Ecstasy. Last I heard, MDMA is still illegal.
Not that it stops anybody, though.
[quote]cesliwakan wrote:
Throw it all away for the chance to go to LA and further my music career. Live like a Spartan (cheap shady place, cheap food, minimal material possessions) and simply dedicate all of my time to becoming a professional rock singer.
[/quote]
This is a no brainer. Give it all up for rock and roll. That’s what I did. A long time ago, I left an Ivy league graduate education for my music. I never regretted it for a moment. No one will ever write my biography, but it was one hell of a life.
[quote]new2training wrote:
jakshafter wrote:
Unbrideled hedonism always leads to distruction. Look at some lives that follow it.
“The heart of man is desperatly wicked and above all things deceitful” Jer 17:9
Why do you associate bliss with hedonism, wickedness and deceit?
[/quote]
Thats a good point. My post was not to the OP but to people association Bliss with pleasure. I am sure Mother Teresa, MLK, Ghandi and the like found bliss in what they did but not so much temporal pleasure.
I identify bliss more with contentment in life. There are very few content people.