Thursday, November 11, 2010

Following Your Bliss

“Follow Your Bliss’ is easy to say but actually gets rather complicated as competing agendas vie for your attention. My take on this simple formula is to find the things that make you happy and pursue them.

However, if you have kids, a mate, a business or two and a mortgage already as a result of following earlier bliss impulses then you may have to evolve slowly into the “Follow Your Bliss” journey and still take care of everything you want to bring along with you.

The truth is that our creative force can empower us to do amazing things. But if we suppress it and deny it any scope for expression, it can create illness, depression, bottled up anger and frustration.

You will know you are following your bliss if you always have lots of energy for doing what you are doing. A child can be happy doing just about anything, and their energy just flows and flows. But as we age we start to see that some choices have to be made. Unfortunately we are conditioned early by school and work to suppress our own enthusiasms and “follow the curriculum”. We are forced to sit in desks and pay attention to many other people and things. But we are rarely taught to pay attention to ourselves.

Yet it is within our own hearts and ideas that we will find the way to our bliss, our inner wisdom.

For me, getting in touch with my inner self has come mostly in the forms of writing and art. Writing has always brought me great comfort. I journal and write mostly for myself, to keep reminding myself of the truths I so easily forget. I also love to share my writing with others. I write to understand myself, and to work out my ideas. With art I can give some physical expression to the ideas that bubble up from inside.

This has led me to a larger form of creativity… creating a life that I love; creating a life that supports my creativity and allows me time and space to follow my bliss. Following your bliss all by yourself won’t last for long. You must begin to enroll other people in your life to participate in and encourage your self-expression, while you in turn support and encourage theirs.

Ultimately, a whole planet full of happy, self-expressed individuals could solve all of the world’s problems and bring about an Age of Bliss! Truly this is the only way to go!

We begin by setting ourselves free. The keys are in the lock. We just have to turn them. Start by finding and believing in your own inner worth. Listen to yourself, meditate, write, go for long walks, explore the inner landscape.

Create a space where you can find yourself, a space that supports your creative process. Allow yourself the time and the freedom to be in that space, alone and without an imposed agenda. Be patient. It may take a lifetime.

Find out who you are and live it with full expression, unapologetically. Enroll others in doing the same. Join or create a support group, blog, write books, network your bliss.

After a while your circle of support will help you to stay focused, for there will be days when you wake up and wonder why you do what you do, and is it really worth it? Then you will have to turn again within and get back to the wellspring of your happiness. It is great if you have some friends to remind you of all this.