Follow
Your Path
“If
you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know
it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take.
That's why it's your path.”
Joseph
Campbell
Joseph
Campbell is famous for saying, “Follow your bliss...” which makes
a lot of folks snicker. I happen to think Campbell was right. I've
made a bit of a study over the decades of those who did, and those
who did not, follow their bliss, and I can tell you quite honestly,
the differences are stark. I know more than a few people who adopted
professions their parents chose for them. Almost universally, they
hate their jobs. Others bought into the idea that to be “successful”
you have to accumulate a lot of money. I don't know anyone whose money has
created a life filled with love, joy and purpose.
Have
you spent much time in the woods? Most of us keep to the well worn
paths—we look to either side and think, “Too much work to go that
way. It's risky. I might get lost.” Cows do that—they keep to the
path. Dogs, too. Mine have worn a trench from one side of the back
yard to the other. Pack animals follow the leader. Human beings are
capable of more.
I
heard part of Mike Rowe's TED talk recently—the Dirty Jobs guy. He
said research shows that people who work with their hands are simply
happier even if their jobs are dirty. I believe that. I think that
being able to see a product at the end of the day is deeply
satisfying to humans. So, if you want to trek off the beaten path, if
you don't mind the work of picking your way through underbrush and
brambles, and maybe getting lost or dirty from time to time, then I
say, “Listen to your heart.” Follow your bliss. That path belongs
to you.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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