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. When you can see that you begin to meet people who are in the filed of your bliss, and they open the doors to you, I say follow your bliss and don’t' be afraid and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. 
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, 1988. 
      I grew up living Joseph Campbell's famous words, 'follow your bliss.' He first  expressed them in the TV  series, 'Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyer" in 1988, not in the early years of my upbringing ; my timing may be off, but not the words which feel like they have always been part of me. Campbell's commitment to following his bliss is mine as well. It  guides me to live in a way that is honest, possible, and satisfying.   
        The track is there; I see it. I keep my eyes open. I know the people that open door. I know when bliss is offered. Sometimes it was hard to follow my bliss; sometimes it still is. I wanted to take the easy path--a path with my social gang, a path that the adults in my life laid out for me and expected me to take,  a path with comfort along the way. I  took many of those paths laid out for me. Fortunately,  many of those paths were right for me. 
     I also laid many of my own paths, which I think of as bliss paths. My times at the Cottage by the Sea, and my solitary travel to Florence and Scotland are two, for which I am very grateful. 

I want to write about the peaceful rhythm of solitude that I am feeling this morning. I want to share it with those of you who check into this blog, because I know that you also are looking for silence, solitude, and simplicity and sometimes like to be alone. And yet, I don’t know what to say. 
     For me, it’s a mind set rhythm, more than the need to make major changes in my life-style. My husband and I live a simple, retired life. Right now my primary challenge is not to worry about what might happen (What if I can’t bring in the wood for the wood stove next winter!) Basically, I am not a worrier, my glass is always half full, and often overflowing. But as we age, the winter cold and snow can tip the glass. 
     For you who are not into the retired life stage, you who have jobs and kids at home, your rhythm is different—in has to be. I know this because that was me earlier in my life. The rhythm of those  moments of silence, solitude, and simplicity was staccato.  For me it was early morning; I loved those moments, especially on the weekends. It was during those years of early Saturday mornings that I tapped into this longing, and began building times of solitude into my life. When I retired from teaching, I began solitary travel and then rented the cottage by the sea for five years. Now my home satisfies the longing. 
     What advice do I have for you? Follow your bliss. Sit in the silence and listen to what you are to do to fulfill the longing.... Well, that’s what I have to say!
      ​

​​Follow your bliss. One of my favorite quotes from Joseph Campbell. For my purposes here, I will stick with this short version. I love to tell people to follow their bliss, but I need to take care that I don’t say it as a throw-away comment—in the category of ‘have a nice day.’ Following your bliss is serious, difficult business. If I truly want someone to do so, I have to be willing to accept the fact that it is their bliss, not my idea of what their bliss should be.
 
 
Here’s Campbell’s full quote. I love how he states it so positively.  
“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn't know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.”

​“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.” This wisdom of Joseph Campbell’s rests deep within me. Preparations for my trip to Florence on Friday are in good order as I get ready to follow my bliss and live the life I want to live once again.
     Packing is completed. Library books returned. My Kindle is ready. Visits to church friends are scheduled or completed. Fourteen meals for my husband sit in the freezer. Friends and family are doing well.
     When I first read these words of Campbell, I embraced the idea of following one’s bliss as something everyone ‘should’ do. But times have changed, and so have I; his words feel more nuanced and complex. What about the families tracking across Mexico to enter our country? Perhaps they are following their bliss, but it surely isn’t the same bliss as the border crossing I will experience upon entering Italy. 
     I could go on and on, except I think these few words are enough to continue my thinking, and to get you pondering your bliss as well.

   I’m still feeling freedom from the writing project I released. I may end up writing the article, but it will happen without internal stress.
   I wonder how many pressure projects we put upon ourselves. Pressure to do something we don’t have to do nor want to do. Maybe the key is the ‘want’ part. For example, I’m about to go for a walk (before it rains). I don’t have to, but, and this is a big but, I want to keep this commitment I made to myself.
      What equals freedom. Off I go.

     It’s the day before I depart for my eleven day retreat to Florence. Packing, finishing a jigsaw puzzle, watching the last episode of Season Five of Downton Abbey; maybe a walk in the rain. I’m always a little restless on the day before I leave, even as I enjoy the final getting ready. I fly to Frankfurt at 5PM, and arrive in Florence at 9AM Monday morning (six hour time difference), in time for a second cappuccino. I’ll check into my apartment and then wander down to the Arno and just stand there on the Ponte Trinita and gaze at the Ponte Vecchio. Then pizza on the Piazza della Signoria, followed by a little nap. On it goes, or shall I say on I go, following my bliss.
     This week I’ve been mapping out the article I’m planning to write while there: ‘Seven Days Walking in Florence’. So far I’m considering ten different themes, but as I walk and wander I’ll settle into the perfect seven.
     I don’t know why, but more than usual I’ve heard a longing from those I’ve told about my trip. Oh, I wish I could do something like that… I wish I were you…I wish I had been more adventuresome.
Undoubtedly each comment is particular to the individual. I don’t know what they specifically had in mind, nor perhaps did they, but they definitely weren’t throwaway comments. In fact, there was a common theme: a deep desire to tap into something essential, to express their authentic self, which they knew they could only access by stepping ‘out of the box’.
     Perhaps this is why I continue to take my solitary trips—to keep my authentic self alive and developing. In many respects I don’t feel like I’m stepping out of the box anymore, but I know I am. Not everyone started practicing as early as me with parental encouragement to be a decision-maker and risk-taker. For that I am very grateful. But I believe that our deepest longings are not fulfilled with by a one-time event. We have to keep at it, keep finding out what we need to do to keep developing. And so I will keep at it tomorrow and for as long as I can.

     We’re getting through March. Not that it’s been a brutal one weather-wise, but as is its nature, it has been a long one. No out-like-a-lion in the forecast, which bodes well for an in-like-a-lamb. However, it looks like I’ll be experiencing rain during my first days in Florence, with temperatures in the low 70s. I’ll plan my time accordingly. In general, rain means museums, sun equals walks. But I can be flexible, singing in the rain and looking in the sun.
    As you might gather, the week leading up to my trip is almost as good as being there. Whatever your bliss might be at the moment, I encourage you to seize it and starting living into it.