This is Bliss

There is happiness… then there is bliss.

PBS commentator Bill Moyers once asked author Joseph Campbell, “Do you ever have the sense of… being helped by hidden hands?” 

In an oft-quoted response Campbell said, “All the time. It is miraculous… 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 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 your field of bliss, and they open 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.”

For years a friend and I met for breakfast when we lived in the same city and we’d talk about interests beyond our work. 

My friend’s love for drumming would often come up. He began drumming at age 5 by banging on pots and pans. He had his first drum kit at 9. He played in bands in high school then took a break after college. But he kept practicing for years on his own. 

Recently, now in his 40s, he was invited to join a 80’s new wave cover band that practices weekly, schedules shows, and sounds amazing. He even sold his traditional 8-piece Yamaha Maple acoustic kit and bought a Roland digital TD-50KVX kit with a double kick drum pedal (for email subscribers you’ll find a cool photo of my friend and his kit at on-emotions.com ).

When we caught up a few weeks ago, he shared how it had taken some time but he has truly found his bliss – playing digital drums in a band. As Campbell put it, there is a life we ought to be living and it is a life connected to what gives us the most joy. Once we identify our bliss we will find people who feel the same way and new doors will open.

What gives you the greatest joy? 

What could you point to in your life and say, “this is bliss.”

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