Joseph Campbell’s mantra was always “Follow Your Bliss.” As the foremost authority on mythology, JC scoured the worlds stories and 
myths and concluded that we are all the same hero in all of these stories. We are simply metaphors for the hero whose journey we follow and it represents the same journey that each and every one of us takes as humans experiencing consciousness on the earth. Thus, the worlds myths teach us how to live as heroes through the symbols within their story.
“Follow your bliss.
The heroic life is living the individual adventure.” –Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell also said that like warriors, we should participate with joy in the sorrows of the world. The only way to completely en-Joy yourself in this life is if you can participate with joy in it all– the good as well as bad.
The Warrior’s approach is to say “yes” to life:
“yea” to it all.
Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.
We cannot cure the world of sorrows,
but we can choose to live in Joy.
When we talk about settling the world’s problems,
we’re barking up the wrong tree.
The world is perfect. It’s a mess.
It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
Those two bits of wisdom go hand in hand. Saying yes to the sorrow and suffering you see around you is an acknowledgement that “it’s all good.” If it’s all the same consciousness out there, if it all comes from one source, how can we pick sides? People get confused because the subtlety of this attitude escapes them. Saying yes to suffering is purely an acknowledgement that it’s all a part of life. It doesn’t mean that you choose suffering or that you have to be a fan of suffering. What it does is allow you the ability to detach from the suffering and get back to following your bliss.
When you fight against the injustices of the world you’re just adding energy to them. The universe is neutral, it doesn’t pick sides, we do. So if you’re thinking poverty, you’re gonna get more poverty. This is because we’re creative beings, period. We are creatures of the creator– one in the same. We simply end up creating what keep our attention on. When your attention is on your bliss and not the things you don’t want, the unwanted situation eventually de-energizes, withers and goes away. So you see, accepting “bad” with the good keeps you from getting caught on fighting against it. Fighting against suffering keeps you in suffering. Acceptance of suffering allows you to move past it and get back to your bliss which is where we create our best.
The world is a mess. Your job is to follow your bliss and be the best, brightest human being you possibly can. It’s your light that heals the world. When you’re happy and successful it benefits the entire universe because we’re all one energy. So when you’re following your bliss, you’re adding that goodness to the world through your joy.By following your bliss you’re actually using The Law of Attraction. When you’re in a state of bliss it’s very easy to put positive emotion behind the vision of what you desire to create. Your thoughts and beliefs are what create your experience.
The goal is to evolve to that place where the energy that had been projected outward to correct the world is turned around to correct oneself — to get on our own track and to dance, and balance, between the worlds. —Diane K. Osbon,
If you accept things as they are while also following your bliss– if every day you can wake and do that thing that you most desire, that activity that gets you into sacred space, then you can create the life that you want to order.
photo courtesy of lpjewelry on flickr